Bernard Forest de Bélidor

Bernard Forest de Bélidor (1698, Catalonia, Spain – 8 September 1761, Paris, France) was a French engineer, significant to the development of the science of hydraulics and ballistics.

[1] He was the son of Jean Baptiste Foret de Belidor, an officer of dragoons, and his wife, Marie Héber but was orphaned at five months old and brought up by the family of his godfather, an artillery officer named de Fossiébourg.

After leaving the army, he developed an interest in science and engineering, and became professor at the school of artillery of La Fère in Aisne.

[1] In the years to come he published several works of great importance, on a wide range of subjects, including hydraulics, mathematics, and civil and military engineering.

[1] Bélidor was the teacher of Peter the Great's Ethiopian favourite, Abram Petrovich Gannibal.