(Image: Colin Mearns)
"This is a story that has been waiting a long time to be told," historian Gary Nisbet tells me as we await the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the life of François Foucart, arguably the most interesting Frenchman ever to settle in Glasgow.
At Foucart's grave in the Necropolis stands a slightly crumbling 15-foot-tall stone monument, carved by J. & G. Mossman in 1863. Among the 52,000 buried in the graveyard, he's surrounded by well-known names, including the author of Wee Willie Winkie and others who have shaped Glasgow, while his story has remained a mystery for many years.
Foucart (1793-1862) was a French soldier who survived Napoleon's retreat from Moscow, fought at Waterloo, and later transformed sport and physical fitness in Glasgow and has now been recognised more than 160 years after his death.
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A commemorative plaque to Foucart, described as the "father of physical fitness in Glasgow", has been unveiled at the University of Strathclyde's sports centre, which is the culmination of over a decade's research by historian Nisbet, founder of GlasgowSculpture.com and honorary committee member of the Friends of Glasgow Necropolis.
Nisbet uncovered the full extent of Foucart's extraordinary story after stumbling across his ivy-covered monument in the Necropolis.
Gary Nisbet, sculpture consultant for Friends of Glasgow Necropolis in front of the obelisk marking the resting place of Francois Foucart at the Glasgow Necropolis who died in 1862 (Image: Colin Mearns)
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Heads of the sports department at the University of Strathclyde paid tribute at an event unveiling the plaque and commended the representation of the "rich legacy that continues from these important individuals."
Nisbet began researching the monument in 2014 out of curiosity about the carved image of a Légion d'Honneur medal, and it became an investigation involving Napoleonic experts in France and Belgium.
Speaking with The Herald, Nisbet explained: "No one really knew the extent of the story behind this guy and especially his contribution as a professor of fencing and gymnastics at Strathclyde Uni, and ultimately to becoming what I call the father of physical fitness in Glasgow.
"He’s the most fascinating Frenchman who ever settled in Glasgow. What a backstory he’s got."
Initial efforts to uncover Foucart's story were stunted until a breakthrough came when, after sourcing his birth certificate, Nisbet established that the birth year engraved on Foucart's monument was wrong. It appeared he had reduced his age by 12 years; the monument states Foucart was born in 1781, whereas his military and baptismal records state 1793.
"That wrong date prevented me from moving forward until French Napoleonic historians found his baptismal records," Nisbet said.
"That was the key to the door, and it opened wide."
The obelisk marking the resting place of Francois Foucart at the Glasgow Necropolis who died in 1862. Francois Foucart who was born in 1793, served under Napoleon and moved to Glasgow after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. He became a celebrated fencing master and teacher of gymnastics at the Andersonian University, now the University of Strathclyde (Image: Colin Mearns)
Born in Valenciennes, northern France, in 1793, Foucart joined Napoleon's army as a teenager and fought in some of the defining battles of the Napoleonic Wars.
Records found revealed an extraordinary military career: he earned medals and swords from Napoleon and played a pivotal role in the Battle of Leipzig, where he ensured the Emperor's safe retreat.
He survived the disastrous Russian campaign of 1812 and was awarded the prestigious Légion d'Honneur for bravery.
After Napoleon's defeat, however, Foucart's loyalty to the former emperor led the restored French monarchy to imprison him and sentence him to transportation to Cayenne in French Guiana.
Instead, he escaped.
After breaking out of prison, he fled through Belgium and the Netherlands before arriving in Britain as a political refugee in 1816, first in London, then Dublin, and finally Glasgow in the 1820s, where he established himself as one of Scotland's leading fencing masters.
He taught fencing and gymnastics at the Andersonian University, which later became the University of Strathclyde, before founding his own public fencing academy and gymnasium on West Nile Street in the 1840s, pioneering public exercise, fencing, and physical education for both men and women.
"He's an example of a refugee who fled home, came to Glasgow and made an absolutely amazing life," Nisbet said.
Organised physical training was largely confined to universities and the wealthy elite, but Foucart opened it up to a much wider audience. "The importance is that he made this available to the wider public," Nisbet said.
"Sports, health and education were being pioneered by Foucart and his son in Glasgow in the 1840s and 1850s before gyms and physical health became really popular."
Rupert Eden, middle, the great great great grandson of Francois Foucart. He is pictured at the Glasgow Necropolis standing at the grave (the obelisk) of his relative who died in 1862. Pictured with Rupert are Annette Mullen, chairperson of The Friends of Glasgow Necropolis and at left is Gary Nisbet, sculpture consultant for Friends of Glasgow Necropolis. (Image: Colin Mearns)
The fencing club he founded still operates today through Strathclyde University, while his son, Dr Louis Foucart, went on to establish some of Australia's first fencing academies and gymnasiums after emigrating to Sydney, where the city now has its very own Foucart Street in his honour.
The Glasgow Herald, as we were known as then, played a major role in Foucart's rise to prominence during his lifetime, enthusiastically covering the fencing exhibitions and gymnastic displays that made him one of the city's best-known sporting figures.
According to Nisbet, our reporting was pivotal in helping to reveal a larger-than-life character who became a local celebrity.
"The Herald advertised the fencing matches and introduced them to the public.
"He was a celebrity in his day who ultimately became totally forgotten."
M Foucart's obituary, The Glasgow Herald, Saturday 28 June 1862 - https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=18620628&printsec=frontpage&hl=en (Image: Google Newspaper Archive)
In an obituary written in the Glasgow Herald on Saturday 28 June 1862, Foucart's character was admired and his ability to adapt to the city and Scottish culture; it opened by saying that "While he retained all the vivacity and impulsiveness of the French character, he succeeded in achieving what so few Frenchmen do - he adapted his feelings, habits, and even prejudices to his chosen sphere."
It goes on to say that the people of Glasgow "will miss his towering form and his martial mien, but they will remember his enthusiastic love for his art, his patient and valuable instructions" as well as his lively conversation, colourful storytelling and unwavering personal integrity.
Nisbet's research also reunited the story with Foucart's descendants, the Eden family, who live in Portugal and still possess family heirlooms including his Légion d'Honneur medal, testimonial silverware presented by Glasgow pupils and other personal possessions.
Foucart's great-great-great-grandson, Rupert Eden, was also in attendance at the plaque's unveiling and said the experience felt surreal, but also like the start of a journey that may uncover more family history, like a picture of Foucart which has yet to be discovered.
Eden, who lives in Portugal but was partly raised in Scotland, visited the Necropolis monument for the first time and praised Nisbet's work, saying that without him, his family would be none the wiser about Foucart's importance in Glasgow and their deeper connection to the city.
Rupert Eden, middle, the great great great grandson of Francois Foucart. He is pictured at the Glasgow Necropolis standing at the grave (the obelisk) of his relative who died in 1862. Pictured with Rupert are Annette Mullen, chairperson of The Friends of Glasgow Necropolis and at left is Gary Nisbet, sculpture consultant for Friends of Glasgow Necropolis. (Image: Colin Mearns)
Speaking at Foucart's grave in the Necropolis, he said it was a "magical environment" and spoke of how proud he was to be there.
For Nisbet, the file can finally be closed after an eleven-year journey which fills him with immense pride.
He said: "Strathclyde Sport as a faculty and the fencing club that it supports now have the identity of the founder of these things known and acknowledged. I think that’s a wonderful thing for Strathclyde; its foundations have now been secured.
“It’s wonderful to think that François, after all this time and for what he did for Glasgow, is now being recognised. This is a city he obviously adored, and I’m so glad and satisfied that he’s got what he really deserved, his living legacy celebrated.
“At the end of the ceremony that brings all this, more than a decade’s research, to a quite glorious end.
"I’ll be retiring quite soon, and I think that would be a great thing to sail off into the sunset having achieved this.”