Leon C. Weiss

Who was Leon C. Weiss?

Leon Charles Weiss was a politically connected American architect who designed most major monuments of the Huey Pierce Long, Jr., gubernatorial administration in Louisiana, including the skyscraper-shaped capitol, the governor's mansion, and Louisiana State University buildings, all in Baton Rouge, and the LSU Medical School in New Orleans.

Weiss was born in Farmerville, the seat of Union Parish, north of Ruston. In 1903, he graduated from engineering school at Tulane University in New Orleans He formed the Weiss and Dreyfous firm in New Orleans in 1920 with F. Julius Dreyfous. The name was changed in 1927 to Weiss, Dreyfous, and Seiferth, when Solis Seiferth entered the firm.

In the 1920s, the firm designed the Jung and Pontchartrain hotels in New Orleans and the Eola Hotel in Natchez, Mississippi. They also designed the Granada Theatre in New Orleans, Louisiana. The three partners met Long and financially backed him for governor in 1928 and successfully opposed his impeachment in 1929.

The company continued to design state buildings in the Richard Webster Leche administration. These included Charity Hospital in New Orleans and other university structures.