Raymond Charles Péré

Raymond Charles Péré (1854–1929) was a French architect, who was born at Roquefort-de-Marsan in the Landes, France, and arrived originally as a French teacher in 1880 at Smyrna (Izmir), married Anaïs Russo there and spent the rest of his life in İzmir, Turkey. He is best remembered as the designer of the İzmir Clock Tower, the landmark of İzmir situated in the city's Konak Square.

Early life

He was born in 1854 at Roquefort, Landes, France, to Jean Jacques Péré and his wife Marie Pargade. He married Anaïs Russo, the daughter of a prominent Levantine family of Italian from İzmir. They had ten children named Ferdinand, Pierre, Charles, Henriette, Bernard, François, Marie, Michel, Joseph and Louis.

Works

Péré was commissioned to design a clock tower in commemoration of the silver anniversary of Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II's (reigned 1876–1909) ascent to the throne. Completed in 1901, the structure of height with North African inspired motifs is the landmark of the city today.

Péré's other important work is the Church of St. Helen in Karşıyaka district of İzmir. It was built with the permission of the sultan in 1904 in "Gothic Revival" style on land donated by a prominent Levantine, Nicola Aliotti. He performed also the stained-glass work and added statues of the relevant saints in the interior. The church served the district's Roman Catholic community. France's former prime minister Édouard Balladur (in office between 1993–1995), was born in Karşıyaka in 1929 and baptized in this church. and made the church's interior wall paintings (frescoes). Here, he put himself in the scene of a fresco called "The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp", depicting İzmir's bishop and guardian saint being murdered by the Romans in 155 AD. Péré's daughter Marie is seen as Mary on a side wall painting known as the "Saint Anne and the infant Mary".

In addition to his works as public buildings, Raymond Charles Péré is also known for creating architectural designs for some houses for Levantine families residing in Alsancak and Buca, even though it is not easy today to identify them.

Death

Péré died on October 15, 1929, in İzmir. After his death, his wife and children emigrated in 1929 to France.