Georges Rolland

Georges Rolland
Georges Rolland from Scribners Magazine, 1891
Born
Georges François Joseph Rolland

(1852-01-23)23 January 1852
Paris, France
Died25 July 1910(1910-07-25) (aged 58)
Gorcy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France
NationalityFrench
Occupation(s)Geologist, explorer and industrialist

Georges Rolland (23 January 1852 – 25 July 1910) was a French geologist and industrialist, a member of the Corps des mines, who worked in Algeria in the 1880s. He made important discoveries about the underground hydrology of the Sahara. He was a leading advocate of a trans-Sahara railway to link French colonial possessions in West Africa. After returning to France he explored the geology of the Briey iron ore basin in Lorraine. He married the heiress of a Lorraine steelworks, and became president of the Société métallurgique de Gorcy and the Aciéries de Longwy, and director of various other enterprises.