Having previously worked as an architect at the Palace of Versailles from 1922 to 1931, André Japy returned a decade later to take up the role of architect-in-chief. In the meantime he had held the same post at the Domaine de Saint-Cloud and the Château de Rambouillet. Japy returned to the palace to find it occupied by the German army.
Second World War
From 1941 onwards, André Japy worked closely with head curator Charles Mauricheau-Beaupré to reorganise and restore the palace despite the pressure of wartime.
After the war
Japy remained at the palace until his retirement in 1954, overseeing many successful restoration projects including work on the Private Chambers of Louis XV and the Royal Opera House, whose official inauguration on 9 April 1957 was attended by French President René Coty and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
André Japy died in Versailles on 4 March 1960.
