Son of Pierre Séverin Audoÿ (first Mayor of the city of Lavaur during the French revolution between 1789 and 1792 and member of the National Legislative Assembly between the 28 June 1791 and July 1792) and of Marie Henriette Lucile Pétronille de Clausade de Riols de Mazieu, Joseph-Victor Audoÿ was born on 9 May 1782 in Lavaur in the department of Tarn. He was the second child in a family of four children.[2]
Following an agreement between Marshal Maison and the Governor of the new independent Greek state Ioannis Kapodistrias, the commander of the engineer troops Audoy was charged with several works of rehabilitation of the country which had been heavily ransacked by the Egyptian troops.[6] He raised back the fortifications of the fortresses of Navarino and Modon and built barracks for the French troops (that of Navarino is still in use today and houses the new Archaeological Museum of Pylos).[7] He built bridges, as on the Pamissos river between Navarino and Kalamata. The road between Navarino and Modon, the first in independent Greece, was also built.[7] Finally, many improvements were made by the French engineering regiments to the cities of the Peloponnese (schools, post offices, printing houses, bridges, squares, fountains, gardens, etc.). Audoy was charged in particular by the governor of Greece to establish the first urban plans of the modern history of the country.[8] He thus built from October 1828 the new cities of Modon (current Methoni) and Navarino (current Pylos), outside the walls of the fortresses, on the model of the bastides of Southwest France (Audoy originated from Tarn) and the cities of the Ionian Islands (which share common features, such as a central geometrical square bordered by covered galleries built with a succession of contiguous arches, each supported by a colonnade, as the arcades of Pylos or Corfu).[6][7] He also had the famous Capodistrian school of Methoni built between December 1829 and February 1830.[9] All these cities quickly repopulated and returned to their pre-war activity. On his return to France, the newly installed king Otto I of Greece conferred by royal decree on Audoy the title of Commander of the Royal Order of the Redeemer, on 30 July 1835.[1]
Subsequently, appointed Colonel, he commanded between 1833 and 1838 the 1st engineer regiment in Metz. He was then promoted to brigadier general (Général de brigade) and inspector-general of the engineering in 1838, and then became director of the fortifications of Amiens and then of Lille.[2]
Audoy also taught at the Artillery and Engineering Application School (École d'application de l'artillerie et du génie) in Metz.
Retired to Saint-Lieux-lès-Lavaur in the familial Château des Cambards after his final retirement from public life, he died there on 25 November 1871 at the age of 89. He was buried in the municipal cemetery. His grave was rehabilitated by the National Association of French Souvenir in 2013.[2]
Pigi P. Kalogerakou (Πηγή Π. Καλογεράκου), The contribution of the French expeditionary force to the restoration of the fortresses and the cities of Messinia (Η συμβολή του Γαλλικού εκστρατευτικού σώματος στην αποκατάσταση των φρουρίων και των πόλεων της Μεσσηνίας), in Οι πολιτικοστρατιωτικές σχέσεις Ελλάδας - Γαλλίας (19ος - 20ός αι.), Directorate of the History of the Army, (Διεύθυνση Ιστορίας Στρατού), 13–41, Athens, 2011. (in Greek)
Antonis K. Tisrigos (Αντώνης Κ. Τσιρίγος), Capodistrian school of Methoni (Το καποδιστριακό Σχολείο της Μεθώνης, 1829-2016), preface by Professor Petros Themelis, Private Edition, Athens, 2017. (in Greek)
^ abc(in Greek) Kalogerakou Pigi P. (Καλογεράκου Πηγή Π.), The contribution of the French expeditionary force to the restoration of the fortresses and the cities of Messinia (Η συμβολή του Γαλλικού εκστρατευτικού σώματος στην αποκατάσταση των φρουρίων και των πόλεων της Μεσσηνίας), in Οι πολιτικοστρατιωτικές σχέσεις Ελλάδας - Γαλλίας (19ος - 20ός αι.), Directorate of the History of the Army, (Διεύθυνση Ιστορίας Στρατού), 13-41, Athens, 2011.
^In the Archives of the Greek Ministry for the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works (ΥΠΕΧΩΔΕ) are 2 original copies of Methoni's urban plan (signed by Ioannis Kapodistrias, one of which bears a bottom note from Audoy: "Designed and drawn by me, lieutenant of the military engineering, Modon, 4 May 1829 - Signature - Audoy") and a copy of Navarino's urban plan (signed by Kapodístrias on 15 January 1831). These urban plans carry respectively the Numbers 1 and 2 of the Archives of the Ministry.
^(in Greek) Tisrigos Antonis K. (Αντώνης Κ. Τσιρίγος), Capodistrian school of Methoni (Το καποδιστριακό Σχολείο της Μεθώνης, 1829-2016), preface by Professor Petros Themelis, Private Edition, Athens, 2017.