Jean-Baptiste Kléber was assassinated by Suleiman al-Halabi, a Kurdish or Arab Syrian theology student living in Egypt, on the 14th of June 1800 in Cairo. Al-Halabi approached Kléber in the garden of the palace of Alfi bika under the pretense of begging, then stabbed him four times. Al-Halabi was caught nearby still holding the dagger and was later executed.
What was Jean-Baptiste Kléber's role in Napoleon's Egyptian campaign?
Kléber served as a divisional commander in Napoleon's Army of the Orient during the 1798 invasion of Egypt. After a head wound at Alexandria kept him out of the Battle of the Pyramids, he led the vanguard in the 1799 Syrian campaign and won the Battle of Mount Tabor. Napoleon then appointed him commander of all French forces in Egypt when he left for France in 1799, without consulting Kléber beforehand.
What happened at the Battle of Heliopolis in 1800?
At the Battle of Heliopolis on the 20th of March 1800, Kléber led approximately 10,000 French soldiers against an Ottoman force of 60,000 men and defeated them decisively. The battle followed Britain's rejection of the Convention of El Arish, which would have allowed the French Army of the Orient to return to Europe. Kléber launched the attack in response to being told that only an unconditional French surrender would be accepted.
What buildings did Jean-Baptiste Kléber design as an architect?
Between 1784 and 1792, Kléber designed several buildings in the Alsace region while serving as inspector of public buildings at Belfort. His most notable work is the Hôtel de Ville at Thann, Haut-Rhin, designed between 1787 and 1793 as a hospital but completed as an administrative building. He also designed the château of Grandvillars around 1790 and the canoness houses of the Benedictine abbey of Masevaux between 1781 and 1790, of which seven of the nine planned houses were built.
Where is Jean-Baptiste Kléber buried?
Kléber's remains are interred beneath his statue at the Place Kléber in Strasbourg, where they were moved in 1840 after an initial burial at the Strasbourg Cathedral on the 15th of December 1838. His heart is held separately in an urn in the caveau of the Governors beneath the altar of the Saint Louis Chapel at Les Invalides in Paris. After his assassination his body was held at the Château d'If near Marseille for eighteen years on Napoleon's orders.
What was the Isis Lodge founded by Kléber in Egypt?
La Loge Isis was a Masonic lodge that Kléber opened in Cairo in January 1800, with himself as its first master. It is considered an early instance of freemasonry being established in Egypt. The lodge adopted the motto of the French Revolution, Liberté, égalité, fraternité. Kléber, who was the son of an operative freemason, was himself a prominent mason.