The Making of an Engineering Legend

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was born on December 15, 1832, in Dijon, Burgundy, to a family of German origin—their name was originally Bönickhausen, which they had changed to Eiffel after the Eifel region in Germany where their ancestors lived. This multicultural heritage would later influence Eiffel's openness to hiring talent regardless of nationality, a progressive stance in an era of rising nationalism.

Young Gustave showed little early promise as a student, preferring outdoor activities to books. His mother, Catherine-Mélanie Moneuse, ran a successful coal business, unusual for a woman of her time. She instilled in her son a respect for hard work and practical intelligence over social pretense. "My mother taught me that good ideas can come from anywhere," Eiffel later wrote, "and that merit matters more than birthright."

It was at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris where Eiffel discovered his passion for metal construction. The school, founded to train engineers for the new industrial age, emphasized practical application over pure theory. Here, Eiffel studied under professors who were reshaping how engineers thought about iron as a building material.