Sebastien Le Preste de Vauban was a great 17th century French military engineer famous for his skill both in designing sophisticated fortifications as well as in devising methods of breaking through them, having participated in innumerable sieges.

His career and legacy was the focus of an international conference that the University of Malta's International Institute for Baroque Studies and the French Embassy of France held recently at the Phoenicia.

Vauban (1633-1707) was a French marshal and the foremost military engineer in an age dominated by the political ambitions of of Le Roi Soleil Louis XIV. His magnificent funerary monument can still be admired today in the Invalides church, Paris.

During the conference, various academic papers were presented on the influence Vauban had on the building of Malta's fortifications and the conservation currently being undertaken of military architecture.

Architect Claude Busuttil co-ordinated the conference proceedings which are due to publish in the near future by the Baroque studies institute.

The conference, which was inaugurated by French Ambassador Jean Marc Rives, and Minister for Resources and Infrastructure, Ninu Zammit, was sponsored by several entities, including Mr Zammit's ministry, the Malta Tourism Authority, the Kamra tal-Periti, Camray Co Ltd, JP Advertising, the Alliance Française de Malte, the Alfred Mizzi Foundation, Midsea Books and the Institute for Maltese Culture (IMC), which helps organise events to promote Maltese culture in France and other European countries.