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Germain Sommeiller
He was born in Saint-Jeoire, High Savoy, in 1815.
Graduated in Engineering, Sommeiller entered when he was 30 in the body of civil engineers in the Sardinian state. He played an important role in implementing the first railways plans decided by the Piedmont government.
His major relevant work is the Frejus tunnelling connecting Bardonecchia and Modane, which is longer than 12 Km. He cared the project and directed works together with
Sebastiano Grandis and
Severino Grattoni. The law for executing the tunnel was voted in 1857; the works stated in that very year ended in 1870; next year the tunnel was open to the traffic. One of Sommellier's contribution to the drilling technology is the compressed-air drilling machine (patented in 1858), which was used for tunnelling the Frejus. When the Savoy passed to France (1860), Sommeiller required the Italian citizenship. Later on, he became a deputy at the parliament. He died at Saint-Jeoire in 1871.
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