A Nantes architect, municipal councillor and founder of the artistic and literary society Le Clou, Georges Lafont (1847-1924) was one of the outstanding figures of the architectural and cultural life of Nantes in the Belle Époque.
Georges Joseph Charles Jules Lafont was born at Nantes on 5 January 1847. He was the son of Jules Louis Lafont, a public-works contractor at Nantes, and of Marie-Augustine Pajot, from a Réunion family. A pupil at the lycée of Nantes (present-day Lycée Georges-Clemenceau), he first followed the preparation for trade and industry there before joining the classical humanities. His talents as a draughtsman, several times awarded prizes, directed him towards architecture: he learned it in Paris, first under Charles Questel in 1866, then at the École des Beaux-Arts, which he entered in 1867.
During the war of 1870-1871, he served as a gunner at La Villette during the siege of Paris. Back at Nantes, he set up his architect's studio in the family property, on the Rue de la Rosière d'Artois.
A member of the Society of Architects of Nantes (1882-1910), Georges Lafont pursued a rich and varied career, marked by official functions: inspector of diocesan works from 1891 until the abolition of the post in 1905, then diocesan architect; assistant architect of Historic Monuments from 27 April 1908; member of the departmental commission of civil buildings and of the council of hygiene. Among his works: the first plans for the resort of La Baule, drawn as early as 1878 for the Hennecart-Darlu company, where he is said to have built more than two hundred chalets; several hospitals and hospices; works at the Lefèvre-Utile (LU) factory; as well as numerous Nantes buildings. He was the winner of the competition for the theatre of Quimper in 1900.
A moderate republican, Georges Lafont was a municipal councillor of Nantes from 1900 to 1904 and played an influential role in local political life. He invested himself just as much in cultural life: he was the founder of the artistic and literary society Le Clou, twice presided over the Festivities Committee of Nantes, and created the Festivities Society of La Baule. His studio, which he shared notably with the painter Alexis de Broca, was a true place of art and sociability. A friend of the painter Hippolyte Berteaux, one of the great artistic figures of Nantes of his time, he had his portrait painted by him.
Paralysed during the last ten years of his life, Georges Lafont died at Nantes on 23 June 1924, at the age of 77, in his native city.
Ville de Nantes, Nantes Patrimonia, entry "Georges Lafont (1847-1924)". — Marie-Laure Crosnier Leconte, biographical entry, AGORHA database (INHA), École des Beaux-Arts registration no. 2428. — Frédéric Créhalet, "L'Atelier de l'architecte Georges Lafont (1847-1924) et du peintre Alexis de Broca (1868-1948) : un lieu d'art et de tolérance à Nantes", Bulletin de la Société Archéologique et Historique de Nantes et de Loire-Atlantique, vol. 154, 2019, p. 209-238. — Archi-Wiki, entry "Georges Lafont".