Jean-Louis Georgelin, who led Notre Dame fire reconstruction, dies while hiking

A French five-star general, who led the reconstruction of the Notre Dame Cathedral, was found dead while hiking in the Pyrénées mountains in Southern France Friday.

Jean-Louis Georgelin, 74, was on a solo trip and was discovered after he failed to return to his shelter, according to The New York Times.

His death is being treated as an accident, according to Bloomberg.

He died just 12 days before his 75th birthday.

President Emmanuel Macron took to Twitter to honor the military man, writing: “The Nation lost one of its great soldiers. France, one of its great servants. And Notre-Dame, the architect of its rebirth.”

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo called his death a “great loss.”

“He was a man of authority, highly respected. He knew how to create the human and organizational conditions needed to successfully rebuild Notre-Dame,” she said in a statement on Twitter.

An Catholic mass will be held at the Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois church in Paris for the general, the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, said.

Macron appointed Georgelin to repair the famous 12th Century cathedral after it was severely damaged.

“We are continuing our march, uninterrupted, toward the reopening of the cathedral,” the general said last month. “We’re moving forward step by step, without fretting, as if the matter were in the bag.”

The cathedral is set to reopen at the end of 2024.

Georgelin served as President  Jacques Chirac’s personal military adviser. He also served as the French armed forces’ chief of staff.

He graduated from the Saint-Cyr military academy in 1969 and started his career in the French infantry. He rose the advisor role in 2002 before moving to the chief of staff position in 2006. He held the position until 2010 and oversaw military operations in Lebanon, the Ivory Coast, Afghanistan, and the Balkans during his time in the role, according to The New York Times.