Joe Bertony

Joseph Bertony (4 March 1922 – 7 April 2019) was a French-born Australian engineer. Trained as a naval architect, he served in the French Navy during the Second World War and, after the Fall of France, as a spy for the French intelligence services. Bertony was captured twice by the Germans and imprisoned in concentration camps and successfully escaped both times. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his bravery and emigrated to Australia after the war. Bertony worked as a civil engineer and played a key role in designing the temporary works that allowed construction of the Sydney Opera House sails. This entailed making more than 30,000 manual calculations with an accuracy of . Subsequent computer checks showed that he had not made a single error. In later life he worked on wind turbine projects and as a mentor to young engineers.

Early life and war service Bertony was born in Corsica, France on 14 March 1922. His mother died soon after the birth and he was sent by his father to be brought up by an aunt and uncle. Following the outbreak of the Second World War he joined the French Navy. The structure, which had no flat elements, was complex, and the margin of error required was . Sydney Opera House chief executive Louise Herron also stated "Bertony was a genius. Without him, the spectacular sails might never have become a reality". Bertony donated the calculation sheets from his time on the Opera House to the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, and they are now held as part of the Powerhouse Museum collection. Bertony later ran calculations to prove that an earlier, more ambitious model for the opera house, one which had flatter concrete sails, had also been technically possible. In the 1990s he worked with a Scottish company to design a vertical axis wind turbine design and at the time of his death was working on a Scottish wind farm scheme.

Personal life Bertony's wife was a pianist and physiotherapist at Hornibrook. They had no children and she died in 2016. Bertony was a lover of French food and dined out regularly in Sydney's restaurants. He also held a keen interest in electric vehicles and helped to mentor young engineers. Bertony died at his home in Sydney on 7 April 2019.