John Macklam
"I’ve always been fascinated by history because it informs the present. The world in which we currently live could have easily been quite different. So much of what has happened, with a simple twist of fate, might not have happened at all! Everything around us is the result of a maelstrom of chance or destiny, of free will or fate: empires that have risen or fallen, gods venerated or forgotten, languages that have been spread throughout the world or extinguished. All because of very human decisions to do one thing rather than another.
It is with this wonder that I approach my work as an educator in the streets and museums of Paris. We are surrounded by the influences of the past because of the way they have built our present lives. Stories are written all over the city, ready to be discovered: from the architecture of great buildings, to sculptures and paintings, even in the ways we speak, and the very words we use."
My favorite place is the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte at Invalides. Love him or loathe him, here lies a man whose destiny changed Europe and the world.
Invalides - Musée de l'Armée, 129 Rue de Grenelle, 75007 Paris
John spent his childhood in a military family, moving from place to place in the United Kingdom and abroad. His first memories are of Cyprus, the island of Aphrodite. Her legendary birthplace was near the family home. After a career in jewelry design, John earned a degree in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, moved to Paris and began his study of French history along with a new career in guiding. He was awarded a professional diploma from Université Paris-Est, and has a particular interest in the life of Napoleon Bonaparte and the first French Empire.
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