François Andréossy

thumb|right|190px|François Andréossy

François Andréossy (1633–1688) Riquet was beginning his investigation into the possibility of building a canal across southern France from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. Andréossy supplied the technical expertise that Riquet lacked and became Riquet's right-hand man throughout the construction of the canal.

Andréossy's descendants continued like him for a century. His great-grandson, the general Antoine-François Andréossy, argued in his Histoire du Canal du Midi that his ancestor should be considered the father of the Canal du Midi, instead of Riquet.