Bordeaux Exposition Maritime Internationale, 1907

An international maritime exposition was held in Bordeaux from April 27 to November in 1907. Bordeaux is best known today for its wine, but at the beginning of the 20th century, it was a major port and industrial city. The focus of the exposition in 1907 was the commercial and military navies of the participating nations, but there were also diverse industrial, agricultural, and colonial exhibits. Many elaborate pavilions were built, but all were dismantled and destroyed at the end of the exposition to clear the way for the next major exposition in 1909.

“For six months, Bordeaux was the absolute centre of the maritime world,” Mr Guichoux comments. “The fair drew hundreds of thousands of visitors, including VIPs such as the Prince of Sweden and the King of Spain. Many people would pay return visits because it took so long to see everything there was to see! It was as if a whole town had been built from scratch!” –– Invisible Bordeaux web site

Dr. Alexandre Lion had a pavilion with 8 incubator babies next to the Palais des Arts Graphique, although I have not been able to find any pictures of it so far. His usual souvenir postcards, however, are easy to find on eBay. We do know that Lion also had a branch of Oeuvre Maternelle des Couveuses d’Enfants in Bordeaux at 26, Rue du Parlement-Sainte-Catherine, although I have not been able to find any pictures of that either.

There is, however, a fairly lengthy entry in the “Official Illustrated Guide” for the Exposition:

Below: Map of the exposition. The location of the “Couveuse Lion” pavilion next to the Palais des Arts Graphiques is marked in red.

• Exposition maritime internationale de 1907 on Wikipedia
• 1907 International Maritime Fair on Invisible Bordeau
• L’exposition Internationale et Maritime de 1907 on Bordeaux Maritime

• General Information
  • Dr. Alexandre Lion
  • The Lion Incubator
  • Oeuvre Maternelle des Couveuses d’Enfants, Paris
  • Oeuvre Maternelle des Couveuses d’Enfants, New York
  • Oeuvre Maternelle des Couveuses d’Enfants, Barcelona
  • The Engineer and the Newborns, by W. A. Nelson and Paul L. Toubas and
• Press Coverage
  • La Maternité “Lion de Nice” pour Enfants Nés Avant Terme ou Débiles, by Dr. Ciaudo, 1895.
  • Les Couveuses pour Enfants, Gazette Médicale de Paris, 1900
  • Couveuses d’Enfants, La Maternité Lion, Paris, La Patrie, 1897
  • Paris Letter: An Improved System of Incubators, by O. Jennings, Pediatrics 1:427-428, 1896
  • Baby Incubators, The Strand Magazine, 1896, by James Walter Smith
  • Human Infant Incubation: A True Fairy-Tale of Modern Science from Leslie’s Weekly, 1897
  • The Saving of Human Life, Maternité Lion in NYC, The Literary Digest, 1898
  • Immature Infants in France, from The Lancet, January 16, 1897, page 196.
  • Alexandre Lion’s Incubator Charities in Europe (1894–1898) (The Embryo Project)
  • Newspaper Articles about Lion’s Storefronts and Expositions
• Maternité Lion Souvenir Booklets
  • Oeuvre Maternelle des Couveuses d’Enfants , Paris Institute, Booklet Version #1 (appears to be ~1896)
  • Oeuvre Maternelle des Couveuses d’Enfants , Paris Institute, Booklet Version #2 (appears to be ~1901)
  • Pamphlet from Alexander Lion’s exhibit at the 1898 exhibition in Torino, Italy. (PDF supplied by Dr. Thijs Gras, Amsterdam)
• Worlds Fairs and Expositions
  • Maternité Lion at the Lyon Exposition Universelle et Coloniale, 1894
    • Maternité Lion at the Lyon Exposition Universelle – Le Monde Illustré, 1894
  • Maternité Lion at the Bordeaux Exposition of 1895.
    • “La Maternité Lion,” by Louis Énault, Journal of the Bordeaux Exposition, 1895
  • Maternité Lion at the Amsterdam World Exposition, 1895
  • Maternité Lion at the Berliner Gewerbeausstellung, 1896
  • Maternité Lion at the Exposition National Suisse, Geneva, Switzerland, 1896
  • Maternité Lion at the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, 1897
  • Maternité Lion at the Brussels International Exposition, 1897
  • Maternité Lion at the Turin L’Esposizione Generale Italiana, 1898
  • Maternite Lion at the Ghent Provincial Exposition of 1899
  • Maternité Lion at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900
  • Woman’s Exhibition in Earls Court, London, 1900
  • Maternité Lion at the Lille Exposition of 1902
  • Maternité Lion at the Marseille Colonial Exposition of 1906
  • Maternite Lion at the Bordeaux International Maritime Exposition of 1907
  • Maternité Lion at the Marseille Exposition Internationale d’Électricité, 1908
  • Maternité Lion at the Exposition Internationale de l’Est de la France, Nancy, France, 1909
  • Maternité Lion at the Brussels Exposition Universelle et Internationale, 1910
  • Maternite Lion at the Exposition du Centre de la France, Clermont-Ferrand, 1910
  • Maternité Liion at the Rome International Exposition of 1911
  • Maternité Lion at the Turin International Exposition of 1911
  • Maternité Lion at the Ghent International Exposition of 1913

Last Updated on 01/14/23