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Père Lachaise

(vero;2021-Nov-13)

Also called Cimetière de l'Est, it was opened in 1804 and is the first cemetery of Paris by its size. It has become a real tourist attraction.

Follow the link to download a map of the cemetery with a list of the persons buried there (it will download automatically to your download folder).

Georges Seurat (1859-1891) - French post-Impressionist artist best known for devising the painting techniques known as Divisionism and Pointillism. Painting Le Cirque by Georges Seurat, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Photo of Seurat by unidentified photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) - He was a French novelist and playwright, one of the masters of 19th century literature and Realism in France. He is most famous for his opus La Comédie Humaine (the Human Comedy), which presents an insight of post-Napoleonic French life in a series of novels spanning the different aspects of French society of the time. Painting of Balzac by Louis Boulanger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) - 19th century French painter regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school. Painting La Liberté guidant le Peuple (Liberty leading the People) by Eugène Delacroix, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Self Portrait by Eugène Delacroix, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (1873-1954) - Popular French author, she was also a mime, an actress and a journalist. She started her writing career as Willy which was the pen name of her first husband with the series of the “Claudines”, four semi-autobiographical stories charting the coming of age and young adulthood of her eponymous heroine. Colette told mainly of women in traditional roles, such as husband hunters, discarded, ageing or déclassé mistresses. She wrote in the form of novellas, examined aspects of female psychology and sexuality, her writing often sensuous and spontaneous. Photo of Colette by Henri Manuel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Édith Piaf (1915-1963) - One of France's most loved singers of the 20th century with a unique voice and powerful songs. Her songs are known all over the world, follow the links to watch her performing a few of them: La vie en rose, L'accordéoniste, L'homme à la moto, La foule and of course Non, je ne regrette rien. Photo of Édith Piaf by Studio Harcourt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Michel Delpech (1946-2016) - Popular French singer who left his imprint in the French music scene of the 70s and landed many hits such as Chez Laurette, his first song and then just to name a few: Pour un flirt, Le chasseur, Le Loir et Cher. Photo of Michel Delpech © Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Gilbert Bécaud (1927-2001) - French singer, composer, pianist and actor. His most famous songs Nathalie and Et maintenant gave him an international reputation, but you might also want to check those two little gems featuring Brigitte Bardot: Les marchés de Provence and Alors raconte. Photo of Bécaud © Joost Evers/Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 NL, via Wikimedia Commons.

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, a.k.a. Molière (1622-1673) - French actor and playwright, he is considered the creator of modern French comedy, one of the unavoidable classic authors every French child studies at school. Portrait of Molière by Pierre Mignard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) - Polish composer and pianist of the Romantic music movement of the 19th century. He moved to France in 1831 and lived there until his death. Click here to listen to his “Minute Waltz” written in 1847. Portrait of Chopin by his fiancée Maria Wodzinska, National Museum in Warsaw, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Recording of the Minute Waltz by Muriel Nguyen Xuan and Stéphane Magnenat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

James Douglas (Jim) Morrison (1943-1971) - American singer and songwriter, he was the lead singer of the rock band The Doors. He died in Paris. Follow the links for some songs performed by The Doors: first a video tribute with pictures of Morrison on the soundtrack of The End, then Riders on the Storm and finally Light my Fire. Photo of Jim Morrison by Elektra Records, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) - Irish wit, poet, and dramatist who was a spokesman for the late 19th-century Aesthetic movement that advocates art for art's sake. His most famous works are probably his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray and his play The Importance of Being Earnest. He spent two years of his life in prison for charges of homosexuality and when finally released left England for France, where he died two and a half years later. Photo of Oscar Wilde by Napoleon Sarony, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Simone Signoret (1921-1985) and Yves Montand (1921-1991) - Simone Signoret was a French actress known for her portrayal of fallen romantic heroines and headstrong older women. She won an Academy Award, for her role in Room at the Top in 1959. Yves Montand was an actor and music-hall singer. Chaperoned by Edith Piaf, he started his career as a singer before moving to the cinema where he attained international fame with his first film Le Salaire de la Peur (Wages of Fear). He had a long and very successful career with the French cinema and was one of France's most loved actors. Follow the links for some of his songs: Les grands boulevards, Dans les plaines du Far-West and La bicyclette. Signoret and Montand married in 1951 and although he was notorious for several affairs (among others with his co-star Marylin Monroe on the film-set of Let's make Love), their union held until Signoret's death in 1985. Both were quite politically engaged, championing many left-wing causes. Photo of Yves Montand in 1952 © Van Duinen / Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 NL, via Wikimedia Commons // Portrait of Simone Signoret is from a photo taken by us of Henri Langlois' tomb where she features as Marie in the movie Casque d'Or.

Alfred de Musset (1810-1857) - French author, playwright and poet of the Romantic literature movement of the 19th century. I personally like him very much for his historical plays such as Lorenzaccio, his autobiographical Confession d'un enfant du siècle (the confession of a child of the century) and for his tormented poems of the "Nuits" (Nights) series. Above his grave is a weeping willow as per the epitaph below his bust: My dear friends when I die / plant a willow at the cemetery / I love its grieving foliage / its paleness is sweet and dear to me / And its shadow will be light / for the soil where I will be sleeping (Mes chers amis quand je mourrai / plantez un saule au cimetière / J'aime son feuillage éploré / la paleur m'en est douce et chère / et son ombre sera légère / à la terre où je dormirai). Portrait of Musset by Charles Landelle, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Jean Antelme Brillat de Savarin (1755-1826) - He was a lawyer and politician during the troubled times of the French Revolution and became a member of the Constituent and National Assemblies until the dissolution of the latest in September 1791. Back in his constituency he was Mayor of the town of Belley for a while before going into exile as the party he stood for (Girondins) was losing ground against the radical party of Robespierre (Montagnards). He eventually came back in France in 1797 and occupied high ranking magistrate posts until his death. In fact, hardly anybody would probably remember him if it was for a book he wrote: La Physiologie du Goût (Physiology of Taste) published two months before his death and which has become one of the founding and most reknown books of gastronomy and established his posthumous fame as an epicure and gastronome. Portrait of Savarin by Louis-Jean Allais, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Title page of Physiologie du Goût by Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sophie Daumier (1934-2004)- French actress and humorist, she became mostly popular for her humorous comedy acts with her partner Guy Bedos in the 70s. One of their most famous acts which was a huge popular success in 1973, La Drague (The Seduction), features a couple of dancers whose inner thoughts are heard in voice-over: the man is convinced that his charm is working, while the woman is annoyed by his increasingly enterprising approaches. I loved it! Photo of Sophie Daumier taken in 1963 © Yves Salgues, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Marie Trintignant (1962-2003) and Alain Corneau (1943-2010) - Marie Trintignant was a well-respected French actress whose career was abruptly ended when she died at the early age of 41, killed by her boyfriend, singer Bertrand Cantat. Her death shocked the nation by its violence and of course because of the notoriety of the characters involved: she was the daughter of Jean-Louis Trintignant, a very popular French actor and Nadine Trintignant, a film director and producer. In the same grave lies her step-father Alain Corneau, second husband to Marie Trintignant and successful French film director. Photo of Jean-Louis and Marie Trintignant by Unknown (Mondadori Publishers), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Photo of Alain Corneau © Yasu, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Victor Noir (1848-1870) - He was a French journalist and the unfortunate victim of a dispute between the Prince Pierre Bonaparte, a cousin of the French Emperor Napoléon III and Grousset, the Parisian correspondent of La Revanche, a Corsican paper which had published a controversial article about the prince’s great-uncle, Napoléon Bonaparte. The Prince responded to the attacks of La Revanche by writing an article in the paper L'Avenir de la Corse, calling the authors of the offending article "traitors and beggars, only good to be massacred and left to dry in the sun". Grousset (also of Corsican origin) seeking revenge, sent two of his friends (one of them, Victor Noir) to Bonaparte to ask him to either retract his words or face him in duel. Bonaparte reacted abusively, tempers got heated and somehow Bonaparte killed Noir with a single revolver shot. Bonaparte pretended at his trial (he was acquitted) that Noir had slapped him in the face but Noir's companion denied this allegation. Anyway as things go, Victor Noir became a symbol of the opposition against the Second Empire and his funeral in his home town of Neuilly became the scene of an impressive and tumultuous demonstration against the regime. To honour their hero, the Third French Republic decided to move his body to Père Lachaise twenty years after his death. Against all odds, his grave, or to be precise the statue adorning it has become a big draw for reasons far away from politics: read this blog to learn which ones … Portrait of Victor Noir by Eugène Appert, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Drawing of the shooting: EHXA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sir Richard Wallace (1818-1890) - If you ask an English person and a French person who was Richard Wallace, you might get two very different answers. The English person will know him as an art collector, the natural son of the 4th Marquess of Hertford whose fortune, properties and art collections he inherited in 1870. Richard continued to manage and expand the art collection which became known as the Wallace Collection, housed in Hertford House in London, an impressive museum which was opened to the public in 1900. On the other side, the French person might know him as the philanthropist who after the siege of Paris by the Prussians in 1871 and the ensuing insurrection of the Commune donated the so-called Wallace Fountains to the city of Paris in order to improve accessibility to clean drinking water, the existing network having heavily suffered during those momentuous events. His fountains have survived him, they are still around and in use, a much-loved feature of the Parisian landscape. Photo of Wallace © Chantepie (Marie-Sophie Leroyer de Chantepie ?), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Photo of the Wallace Fountain © Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Héloïse (c.1098-1163) and Abélard (c.1079-1142) - Héloïse was a brilliant young girl when her uncle, Canon Fulbert, enrolled the cleric Pierre Abélard, the best-known philosopher of his day and some twenty years older than her, as private teacher to further her education. Alas, the master seduced his pupil and they started a secret affair until Héloïse found out that she was pregnant. Her furious uncle wanted to send her to a convent but she eventually eloped with Abélard to his family home in Brittany where the child was born. Marriage was the only way to appease Fulbert’s anger, so they married under the condition that the marriage be kept secret in order to protect Abélard's position and reputation as a cleric. But Fulbert did not keep to his word and made the marriage public which Héloïse attempted to deny, prompting his wrath and abuse, to the extent that Abélard had to send her to a convent for her protection. Though Abélard never intended for her to become a nun, Fulbert believed that he was discarding his wife and set out to take revenge: he hired assailants who broke into Abelard’s lodgings at night and castrated him. This was the end of Abélard's life as a prominent cleric and teacher: he fled to a convent and became monk, asking Héloïse to take the veil and retreat from public life as well, which she did. Their story was not over though: they kept in contact and exchanged letters, seven of which have survived. When Abélard died, Héloïse had his body brought to the convent of Paraclete (region of Champagne) where she was abbess, arranged for a tomb to be built and daily prayers to be said for him. She was buried in the same tomb at her death. Their remains were moved to Père-Lachaise in 1817. Painting of Héloïse and Abélard from the Condé Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) - French poet and writer of Polish-Belarusian descent. He arrived in Paris at the age of twenty and was the harbinger and initiator of most avant-garde movements that flourished at the beginning of the 20th century, such as Cubism, Orphism and Surrealism. His poetic masterpiece was Alcools (1913), a collection of poems written over a period of 15 years in which he suppressed all punctuation. Apollinaire fought in WWI and received a severe head wound in 1916. Discharged from the army, he returned to Paris and wrote a new collection of poems, Calligrammes (1918) dominated by images of war and impressions of the Parisian art world. Weakened by his war wound, he died of Spanish influenza in the pandemic of 1918. His tomb bears a double epitaph: the first one consists of three discontinuous stanzas of his poem 'Les Collines', which evoke his poetic project and his death, and the second one is a calligramme of green and white shards in the shape of a heart that reads "mon coeur pareil à une flamme renversée / my heart like an overturned flame". Print of the Calligramme La Colombe poignardée et le Jet d’eau (The stabbed Dove and the Water Jet) by Guillaume Apollinaire, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Paul Baudry (1828-1886) - He was a successful French painter during the Second Empire and won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1850 for his painting of "Zenobia found on the banks of the Araxes". He is mostly remembered for his mural decorations adorning grand French buildings such as the Opéra Garnier, the Château de Chantilly, the Court of Justice in Paris and several private Parisian mansions. Portrait of Baudry, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Prix de Rome Painting of Zenobia by Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Georges Bizet (1838-1875) - Talented French composer who attained (posthumous) worldwide fame for his opera Carmen. He won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1857 aged nineteen and after spending three years on a grant in Italy came back to France facing financial and familial struggles: he had dreamt of a few quick successes at the Opéra-Comique to secure a comfortable material life but these never happened. His operas (Les Pêcheurs de perles, La Jolie Fille de Perth or L'Arlésienne to name a few) were no great successes and they never stayed on stage long enough so that his life was consumed by food work for publishers and piano lessons. His last work was Carmen but he did not live long enough to experience its success: the first performance in Paris on March 3rd 1875 was a flop and its first triumph took place in Vienna in October of the same year, alas by that time Bizet had already died of a heart attack on June 3rd at the age of 36. Photo of Bizet by Étienne Carjat, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Music Sheet of Sérénade © Tieum512, CC BY-SA 2.5 , via Wikimedia Commons.

Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) - French painter in the Neoclassical style, he is most famous for his works painted during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. He won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1774 for this painting and spent four years in Italy studying classical paintings of 17th century masters. He supported the French Revolution, was a ardent Jacobin and a friend of Robespierre whom he managed to survive although he had to spend some time in prison when the Directory was established. His major work of this period, Les Sabines painted in 1799, attracted Napoléon's attention who became his patron: it was the time of grandiose paintings picturing military victories and key events of Napoléon's reign, such as Le Sacre de Napoléon 1er. In 1815 following Napoléon's fall in Waterloo, he went into exile to Brussels, Belgium where he died ten years later. The family requested his body to be transferred to France but the French government refused and only his heart rests in Père-Lachaise. Self portrait by J-L David in 1794, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Painting of The Death of Marat by J-L David, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Georges-Eugène, Baron Haussmann (1809-1891) - French Civil Servant who became Prefect of the Departement Seine in 1853 and was tasked by Napoléon III to carry out a massive urban renewal programme of Paris. It included the demolition of medieval neighbourhoods that were deemed overcrowded and unhealthy; the building of wide avenues; new parks and squares; the annexation of the suburbs surrounding Paris; and the construction of new sewers, fountains and aqueducts. Haussmann's work was met with fierce opposition, and he was finally dismissed by Napoléon III in 1870; but work on his projects continued until 1927. The street plan and distinctive appearance of the centre of Paris today are largely the result of Haussmann's renovation (source Wikipedia). Photo of Haussmann, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Painting Boulevard Montmartre by Camille Pissarro (1897), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Joachim Murat (1767-1815) - To me, Murat was the most flamboyant of all Napoléon's marshals. He served as a cavalry commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was crucial to many of Napoléon's victories. He was duly rewarded for his actions, married Napoléon's sister Caroline and eventually became King of Naples in 1808 while continuing to support and fight alongside the Emperor until 1813. After the defeat of Leipzig in March 1813, realising that the tide was turning, he decided to switch sides to the Coalition in order to preserve his own throne. Alas, as King of Naples he declared war on Austria in March 1815 which proved a very bad move: defeated and captured by the forces of former King Ferdinand IV of Naples, he was tried for treason and sentenced to death by firing squad. Caroline died in 1839 in Florence, Italy. Their younger son, Napoléon-Lucien-Charles (1803—78) was recognized as a prince by Napoléon III; from him descends the princely house of Murat, surviving into the 20th century. Joachim Murat himself has been interred in Castello di Pizzo, Naples and the grave in Père Lachaise contains only the bodies of his descendants although a big medallion honours him on the gravestone. Portrait of Joachim Murat by Charles-Victor-Eugène Lefebvre, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

René Lalique (1860-1945) - French jeweller whose designs in glass contributed significantly to the Art Nouveau movement in the early 20th century before evolving to Art-Déco between the two world wars. His creations ranged from perfume bottles, vases, jewellery, chandeliers, clocks to automobile hood ornaments. His name is still very present today in the form of the company Lalique which he founded in 1888 and was taken over by his son Marc at his death. The company's focus shifted then from glass to crystal, you may want to check the website of the Lalique Museum for more details and some pictures of their emblematic works. Both René and Marc are buried in the grave in Père lachaise which is adorned by a glass cross embedded in the stone work. Photo of René Lalique by Aaron Gerschel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Photo of a Rolls Royce Hood Ornament © Brian Snelson from Hockley, Essex, England, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Michel Legrand (1932-2019) and Macha Méril (1940-) - Michel Legrand was a very successful composer, conductor and jazz pianist, he wrote songs and numerous film scores, winning three Oscars and five Grammys along the way. Macha is a French actress who started her career in film before evolving to television and theatre. She has also written books and is a well loved public figure in French society. Theirs is a beautiful love story; they fell for one other in 1964 (a real coup de foudre) but at that time were both otherwise engaged: Michel was married with very young children, Macha had a steady fiancé, so they chose not to "mess things up" and parted ways. Until they met again in 2014 and felt the same attraction as 50 years ago. This time they were both free and married straight away. Photo of Legrand and Méril © Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Georges Moustaki (1934-2013) - Egyptian-born French composer and singer. He started his career by writing songs for famous French singers, most notably Édith Piaf whose lover he became for a while. Later on, he started performing his own songs accompanied by his guitar. He was very popular in the 1960s-70s with meaningful songs which appealed to the mood of the time. His songs became classics with a political or philosophical message, many being from the sort teenagers would sing around the campfire on summer nights (well, I did!). You can check some of his songs on this YouTube page. Photo of Moustaki © Archibald Tuttle, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Marcel Proust (1871-1922) - French novelist who attained world fame with his seven-volume partly autobiographic novel In Search of Lost Time, a classic of French literature which I must confess, I never managed to finish. Photo of Proust by Otto Wegener, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Bernard Rethore (1949-2011) - I have no idea who Bernard Rethore was but his grave is quite an eye catcher…

Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) - Rossini was an Italian composer who became famous for his operas and overtures which are still performed and staged today all over the world. Most popular are, just to name a few: The Barber of Seville, La Gazza Ladra, L'Italiani in Algeri and William Tell. Photo of Rossini by Étienne Carjat, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

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