The International Team

Eiffel's firm was remarkably international for its time. The engineering office included:

- Adolphe Salles, the son of French-Jewish parents, who managed the complex elevator contracts - Luigi Nizzoli, an Italian engineer who specialized in hydraulic systems - Georges Lévy, whose family had fled pogroms in Poland, became chief calculator - Wilhelm Feldmann, a German engineer who stayed despite growing Franco-German tensions - Pavel Dmitriev, a Russian émigré who brought expertise in cold-weather construction

This diversity wasn't mere tokenism. Eiffel actively recruited the best minds regardless of origin. In an 1888 speech to his staff, he declared: "This tower represents not just France, but human achievement. It is fitting that humans of all nations help build it."