Paul Ristelhueber

Paul Octave Ristelhueber (July 19, 1849 – March 12, 1925,^[1] known in Chinese sources as 林椿) was a French diplomat stationed in Qing China. He served as the French consul in Fuzhou (1877-80),^[2] Guangzhou (1883-84)^[2] and Tianjin Concession (1884-91).

Over his tenure in Tianjin, he oversaw the construction of telegraph linking Tianjin and French Indochina in 1889.^[3] In 1905,^[1] he became the Director of the Societe Francaise de Construction et D'exploitation de Chemins de Fer en Chine Ligne du Chan-si, the company that oversaw the construction of Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan railway in Qing China.^[4] Besides, he was the Director of Russo-Chinese Bank in Paris.^[5]

Family

Ristelhueber was born in Guadeloupe, the French West Indies and died in Paris. He married Marie Anne Dannet and had two sons, of which Jean René Marie Ristelhueber became a French diplomat, stationing in Beirut (1908) and in Tunis (1924-28).^[1]