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Théodore Ballu (8 June 1817 - 22 May 1885) was a French architect who designed numerous public buildings in Paris. He is the father of the politician Roger Ballu and the grandfather of the industrialist and politician Guillaume Ballu.

Summary
 * 1) Winning the Prix de Rome
 * 2) Architecture in Paris
 * 3) The church of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois
 * 4) Reconstructing the Hôtel de Ville
 * 5) Distinctions
 * 6) Tributes
 * 7) Iconography
 * 8) Notes and References
 * 9) External Links

Winning the Prix de Rome
In 1840, Théodore Ballu won the Prix de Rome. That year competition’s final challenge was to design a palace for the Chambre des Pairs. Ballu’s work also included the realization of the Église de la Trinité and the reconstruction of the Hôtel de ville de Paris.

The young laureate then left Paris and boarded at the Académie de France à Rome. He lived in the Villa Médicis from January 1841 to December 1845. He visited the ruins of Ancient Greece and his third year there was dedicated to Pompeii. In 1844-1845, his projects focused on the Érechthéion de l’Acropole d’Athènes.

Architecture in Paris
Back in France, Théodore Ballu became an assistant to architect Franz Christian Gau on the Basilique Sainte-Clotilde construction site, then took charge after Gau's death in 1853. From then on, his career was much focused on his preference for religious buildings.

In 1860, he was named chief architect of Parisian buildings related to the religion. He then designed the Église de la Trinité (1861-1867), the Saint-Esprit temple on Rue Roquépine, and the churches of Saint-Ambroise (1863-1869) and Saint-Joseph (1866-1875).