Alphonse Delort de Gléon was a civil mining engineer who lived in Egypt for more than twenty years. He was first director of the Alexandria Water Company, then founder and director of the Cairo Water Company. On several occasions, he was the representative of the French nation in Cairo and chairman of the Comité de l’Alliance Française. He remained for a long time director or administrator of the numerous companies he had created.
In 1871–1872, he had a house built in the new districts of Cairo, based on plans by the architect Ambroise Baudry (1838–1906). In 1884, he built a second house in Cairo and in 1883 bought a townhouse in Paris (at rue Vézelay 18), where he furnished several rooms in ‘Arab style’.
In 1889, he was in charge of Egypt’s general commission at the world’s exhibition in Paris, and created the Rue du Caire.
His collection was exhibited in 1878 and 1903 in Paris, as well as in Munich in 1910. Most of it was bequeathed to the Louvre by his widow, née Angelina Grandcolas (1852–1911), on condition that it be installed in a special room, incorporating decorative elements from the grand salon in the Rue de Vézelay. After several twists and turns, the project, generously endowed by Mme Delort, finally came to fruition in 1922 (Volait, 2005, pp. 131–134; Volait, 2009, pp. 99–104).

Volait, M. (2005). La rue du Caire. In Bacha, M. (dir). Les Expositions Universelles à Paris, de 1855 à 1937 (pp.131-134). Paris : Action artistique de la Ville de Paris.

Volait, M. (2009). Fous du Caire. Excentriques, architectes & amateurs d’art en égypte 1863–1914. L’Archange Minotaure.