Les Salles
Encyclopedia
Notable residents
- Etienne Francois of Kair Blumestein (1712–1799): Inspector of Mines, German origin. He established in 1730 to drop a smelter to process the lead extracted from its mines Champoly and Juré. He bought the La Goutte castle in 1753 to live in.
- Jean Baptiste Francois Kair of Blumestein (1759–1854): Officer, Knight of St. Louis and engineer of the Highways. He took over from his father Etienne to exploit lead in La Goutte. He was the first mayor of LEs Salles in 1791, and was then mayor of Lezoux from 1806 to 1830.
- Francois Gilbert Planche (1866–1924), engineer, industrialist and member of the Hautes-Alpes, whose family hails from the hamlet of Coavoux. A man of action, it has invested in railways in the mining and electric power. He is considered one of the "fathers of the hydro-electricity in the Alps.