Among the many necropolises around the world, Père Lachaise is distinguished by its unusual atmosphere and original flavor. Located on 48 hectares of land in the center of Paris, it has long been transformed from a final resting place into a parkland. Mothers with strollers often walk here, young people have picnics, and older people come to relax and collect their thoughts.
The churchyard is divided by many streets into quarters, which in many ways resembles an ordinary provincial town. Only residents live in majestic crypts, luxurious tombs, under modest gravestones, or coexist in multi-storey columbariums.
History of creation
Initially, on the territory of the famous cemetery, there was a Jesuit monastery headed by François de La Chaise. This religious leader was the confessor of the "Sun King" Louis XIV and actively used his position, constantly annexing nearby land plots to the possessions of the order. With the death of the patron saint, the monastery fell into decay. The property began to be sold at auction. Elegant gazebos and artificially erected grottoes with waterfalls were dismantled. Instead of the monastery, a small chapel was erected, and the poor settled in the area.
The empty lands were bought by the capital's architect Nicola Frosho and organized the Eastern Cemetery on them. The area was divided into quarters and given the appearance of English gardens. Emperor Napoleon I himself was present at the opening of the new Parisian churchyard on May 21, 1804. Previously, burials were carried out exclusively on church lands, therefore, the necropolis located outside the city was not at first successful.
To attract buyers of burial sites, the city administration decided to reburial the ashes of famous personalities. The remains of Pierre Abelard and his beloved Eloise were among the first to migrate to a new place. The strong feelings of the monk and philosopher for his student were so strong that he took the girl to Brittany, secretly married her and she bore him a son. But the relatives of Eloise found the couple, they emasculated the poet by cruel methods, and the young mother was forced to take monastic vows.
Parisians were interested in the romantic flair around the common tomb of two lovers. Next in line were the fabulist La Fontaine and the comedian Moliere. But the real glory of Père Lachaise, as the people continued to call this area, was created by the author of "Father Goriot". Honore de Balzac transferred the final scene of his great work to this cemetery.
The writer himself found his last peace here in 1850 (study 48), having finally fulfilled his lifelong dream and married Evelina Ganskaya. 30 years later, when a charming Polish woman and subject of the Russian Empire died, the couple were reunited in one tombstone.
The popularization of the "Abode of the Dead" led to an increase in burials at the churchyard: by 1824 there were over 33 thousand of them. To date, the number of those who have been laid to rest here has long exceeded one million. And this is on condition that burial in the cemetery is allowed only to Parisians or to those who died suddenly in the capital of France.
The graves of famous people
Père Lachaise is visited by at least 2 million tourists annually. Everyone comes here to honor the memory of various figures of science, culture and art. There are no signs to the cemetery, since the territory is very huge and has many branched streets and dead ends. To find the desired crypt or burial vault, a detailed diagram is used. If you strictly adhere to the instructions and follow the boundaries of the quarters, then it will be quite easy to find the desired site.
Frederic Chopin (study 11) ... On his grave, you can see a muse mourning the irreparable loss. Poles often bring fresh flowers here to honor the memory of the great composer, who lived for only 39 years. The well-known "Funeral March" is still played in many cemeteries around the world.
James Mayer Rothschild ... The story of the great banker and "great exile" A.I. Herzen. When Rothschild demanded from K.V. Nesselrode refused to pay for the tickets by the Moscow treasury guard issued to the mother of the disgraced writer, arguing that Herzen's property was arrested. Then the banker warned that he would tell about the financial insolvency of Nicholas I. The required amount was paid, and the writer was able to publish his works abroad with this money.
Jean Louis André Theodore Gericault ... Among those who died at an early age is this French painter. At 33, he unsuccessfully fell from his horse and died. The famous canvas "The Raft of Medusa", dedicated to the tragic fate of the passengers of the frigate of the same name, is depicted in a bas-relief on a grave pedestal. The artist himself is located on top, as if finishing his picture. It is noteworthy that before the first exhibition, when the "Raft" was already in the hall of the Italian Theater, Gericault decided to supplement the picture with two new figures and lengthen the size of the raft. He realized his idea right in the foyer.
Eugene Delacroix (study 49) ... The outstanding painter is known for "Liberty Leading the People" and frescoes for the Church of Saint-Sulpice. In the Louvre, an entire room is dedicated to his paintings. Delacroix also served as a model for his friend Theodore Gericault when writing "The Raft of Medusa". The artist died quietly and unnoticed by the others, in his home, without experiencing a relapse of his throat ailment.
Gioacchino Antonio Rossini ... The Italian opera reformer used to say, "Give me the laundry bill and I'll put it to the music." The "Divine Maestro" considered Paris to be one of the three cities that had a great influence on his work. He died in the village of Pasia, near the capital of France. And although the real remains of the composer are in Italy, in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, the funeral itself took place at the Pere Lachaise cemetery. The body was embalmed, placed in a niche, and then transported to the final burial site. Rossini's tomb can be seen on the main street of the churchyard.
Alfred de Musset ... Poet and playwright, known for his novel "Confessions of the Son of the Century", dedicated to George Sand. Also in medicine there is a term "Musset symptom" - a rhythmic shaking of the head in time with the pulse. Such a rare heart disease occurred in the writer as a consequence of complications from syphilitic aortitis.
Edith Piaf (pit. 97) ... The small fragile Edith Giovanna Gassion charmed the Parisian audience with her voice. During her life, she suffered 4 car accidents, had drug problems due to incessant physical pain, went to the operating table seven times and experienced hepatic coma three times. The vociferous sparrow in the recordings still impresses with its manner of performance. The whole of France was grieving at her death.
Few people know that the singer had a daughter, Marcel, who died at the age of two from tuberculous meningitis. The child's body rests in the same grave with the mother.
Georges Seurat ... The founder of pointillism (point painting) anticipated the electronic decomposition of color, which underlies the work of a raster display. He worked both in color and in black and white. He died of one of the forms of the flu. After him, his son went to another world two weeks later.
Vincenzo Bellini ... The owner of the unique bel canto lived to be 34 years old and died due to intestinal disease. Initially, he was buried in the Eastern Cemetery of Paris by right of death, but in 1876 the remains of the Italian composer were transferred to his native island of Sicily and placed in the Cathedral of Saint Agatha.
Georges Rodenbach ... The Belgian Symbolist writer was considered a master of exquisite style. He was widely translated into European languages and had a considerable influence on other poets. He spent his adult life in Paris and died here from acute inflammation of appendicitis. In his small homeland, the authorities refused to erect the monument, since Rodenbach wrote mainly in French, and in the province of Bruges, they speak Flemish (Dutch).
Arman ... The artist's real name is Armand Pierre Fernandez. The founder of the movement of new realism in art. For a long time he experimented with installations of parts of objects, deliberately blowing them up with dynamite or cutting them. After a break in painting, he creates illustrations for the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud and portraits of great composers created from musical instruments. A dilapidated violin is installed on the grave. Some see it as a fragment of Arman's sculpture "The Power of Music", while others associate it with an incident in China when the artist broke a string instrument in order to create a panel from its fragments.
Sarah Bernhardt (room 44) ... At the beginning of the twentieth century, she was considered "the most famous actress in history." She toured Europe and America. She finished her theatrical career at the age of 77, and a year later she died in Paris from uremia and kidney failure.
Adolphe Thiers (pit. 55) ... The man who gave the order to shoot the defenders of the Paris Commune.
Yves Montand ... The legendary French actor was injured on the set of the film "IP-5". Due to the director's negligent negligence, when the duplicates of the immersion in the icy lake were re-filmed, the famous chansonnier was not offered warm clothes, no blankets, or a warming drink. The result was severe pneumonia. The day after finishing work on the film, the singer died in the Senlis hospital from a heart attack caused by extensive pneumonia. Thus, he repeated the fate of his protagonist.
In the same grave with Yves Montand rests his wife Simone Signoret, who died six years earlier.
Marcel Proust (area 85) ... Novelist, essayist, author of the epic "In Search of Lost Time" and winner of the Goncourt Prize. He was known for his homosexual inclinations and even sponsored a male brothel during the First World War. From the age of 9 he suffered from asthma. In the rainy autumn of 1922, he fell ill with bronchitis and soon died of pneumonia. The grave is crowned with a black marble slab with a modest inscription about the years of the life and death of the writer.
Jean Peison (area 86) ... French tiger tamer. Depicted riding a striped predator that ate it.
Theodore Sivel and Joseph Croce-Spinelli (area 71) ... The first balloonists to reach the "death zone". They died of suffocation, having risen to an altitude of 8.6 km. Buried in the same grave.
Jacques-Louis David (area 56) ... A major representative of neoclassicism, enjoyed the patronage of Napoleon Bonaparte. During his life, he painted many paintings glorifying the revolution. After the Battle of Waterloo, he was forced to leave for Switzerland and then Belgium. He was originally buried in the Saint-Josse-ten-Nodet cemetery in Brussels. Then, almost 60 years later, he was reburied at Evere. In the Père Lachaise cemetery, under the tombstone is his heart.
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (area 96) ... Italian by birth, he lived in Paris for the last 15 years of his life. His canvases are made in the genre of expressionism. Naked bodies attract, first of all, not by their nakedness, but by the liveliness of colors. He died at the age of 39 from tuberculous meningitis. The funeral was large, with the participation of many famous painters, poets and entertainers of the time. You will find the grave at the Jewish site. It is crowned with a modest tombstone. Nearby rests his beloved Jeanne Hébuterne, who committed suicide in the 9th month of pregnancy the day after the artist's death. Her remains were first buried in another cemetery and only in 1930 were reburied at Père Lachaise. The child survived and was brought up in the family of Jeanne's sister.
Antoine Auguste Permentier ... At one time, this scientist fed the hungry French people with potatoes and made a significant contribution to the winemaking process. Louis XIV contributed a lot to the popularization of the new vegetable and even wore a purple flower in his buttonhole. In memory of such an innovation, a huge basket of potato tubers and an analogue of a moonshine still flaunt on his grave.
Scandalous burial
The legendary burials located on its territory became a separate factor increasing the popularity of the Parisian churchyard. Filled with rumors, shocking historical details or outrageous personality of the deceased, they attract many tourists. There are always many visitors to such tombstones, excursions are organized to them, and acts of vandalism are not uncommon here.
Jim Morrison ... This grave is rightfully considered the most scandalous in the Pere Lachaise cemetery. The very death of the lyricist and vocalist is controversial. Although it was officially announced in the press about cardiac arrest, there are versions of heroin overdose, suicide, and even the intrigues of the FBI. Only his girlfriend Pamela knew about the real reasons, but she died from drugs three years later, without informing anyone about them.
Despite the fact that half a century has passed since the death of the leader of The Doors, fans still come to honor the memory of the soloist. The epitaph on the tombstone "Defeat the demon within yourself" has become a kind of credo for many admirers. People always crowd around the tombstone, sing songs, lay fresh flowers. Often, the guard of the necropolis at night catches people trying to climb over the fence and express their emotional attachment to the singer's work.
It would seem that such popularity should please, but Parisians have already signed a petition more than once to transfer the burial to a suburban cemetery. This is due to the constant noise, the neighboring monuments covered with quotes from songs, the abandoned syringes, bottles and other rubbish. The administration of the cemetery is unable to satisfy the townspeople, since the rent for the burial is paid regularly and in a fairly large amount.
Victor Noir ... The French journalist was shot and killed by Crown Prince Pierre Bonaparte on the eve of his wedding. But not because of a quarrel with the future monarch, but because of his love affairs, the young man became famous. His grave attracts many women and men with various sexual disorders. The first hope for a cure for infertility and a long-awaited meeting with a loved one, the second - for gaining masculine strength. According to popular beliefs, for this it is necessary to touch the causal place of the lying bronze sculpture of a journalist. It is not known for certain if this procedure helps. But the bulge in the pants at the monument has become smooth and polished over the years of pilgrimage.
Oscar Wilde ... The writer became famous for his unconventional view of things. He explained his departure to France with the intolerance of the British towards him and predicted a quick death for himself. In Paris, he contracted an ear infection that turned into acute meningitis. On his deathbed, Oscar paid more attention to the wallpaper in the hotel room than to his health: "Either me, or this awful floral wallpaper."
Wilde died a month before 1901. At first, the shocking writer was buried in the Bagno cemetery, from where his remains, 10 years later, migrated to Père Lachaise. American sculptor Jacob Epstein made a monument to the grave in the form of a flying sphinx. It was this mythical character that became the object of reverence for many fans of the playwright's talent. The white marble stone was constantly covered with kisses and declarations of love written with lipstick. To stop such acts of vandalism, the pedestal was fenced with glass. But this still does not stop the most ardent fans.
It is also believed that the transparent fence was installed after the sphinx lost a prominent part of its body. True, evil tongues claim that the lost fragment is in the office of the head of the necropolis: he holds the papers for them.
Demidovs crypt ... Located on Akatsiy street. The guides tell stories about the ghost of Princess Demidova, who appears exactly at midnight and walks through the cemetery. Among Parisians, she is called the Queen of Spades.
Guillaume Apollinaire de Kostrowicki ... Even during his lifetime, the author of erotic prose mystified his birth. Allegedly, he was found planted in Rome and only a few months later found his Polish mother. After the untimely death of the founder of modern poetry, a series of inexplicable deaths of his friends and relatives followed. They say that he still appears to his admirers in the form of a ghost.
Alan Kardek ... Real name - Hippolyte Leon Denizar-Rivay or Marquis of Rival. Founder of spiritualism and researcher of psychic phenomena. On his grave, you can still find people charging water or notes with fluids emanating from the tombstone.
In memory of mass graves
In addition to individual graves, at the Eastern Cemetery you can find pedestals that perpetuate the memory of many of the victims. Under the stone statue, the ashes of revered people do not always actually lie. The very fact that the administration of the necropolis treats with understanding the victims of mass executions and repressions, who died in the war, participants in demonstrations and revolutions is impressive. Even without knowing where the real remains are, you can always come to Père Lachaise and honor the dead.
Among the famous memorable places:
Monument to Russian soldiers, participants of the French Resistance.
Wall of the Communards. Moved outside the cemetery to avoid communist rallies.
Memorial to the victims of Nazi concentration camps (pit. 97).
Also on site 97 you can find monuments to the very people, through whose fault the genocide of the Second World War was carried out. The sculptors were ruthless in portraying torture, acts of violence and the degradation of the executioners.
Columbarium
The cemetery crematorium is located on site 87. The building was built in the likeness of the Hagia Sophia from Istanbul. At the top of the building, you can see the same minarets and domes as the original. The bodies of many famous personalities were cremated here. Subsequently, the ashes were scattered, placed in a niche in a columbarium, or buried.
Isadora Duncan ... Sergei Yesenin's wife and beautiful dancer died an absurd death. The edge of her scarf hit the axle of a moving car, which resulted in a strangulation. It is said that her words before the last trip were: “Goodbye friends! I'm going to glory! "
Maria Callas ... Greatest opera singer of Greek descent. She possessed a universal voice, which was capable of arias of varying complexity. Towards the end of her life she suffered from dermatomyositis - a disease of the vocal cords. This is also associated with the change in her key from soprano to mezzo-soprano. She died in Paris before her 54th birthday. The remains were cremated and placed in a columbarium niche. After the theft and return of the urn, the singer's ashes were scattered over the Aegean Sea. Now in the cell behind the memorial plaque there is an empty urn.
Nestor Makhno ... Ukrainian revolutionary and anarchist ended his years in exile. Seriously suffering from wounds received in past battles, he died in a Paris hospital from bone tuberculosis. The body was cremated and placed in a columbarium cell at number 6685.
How to get to the Pere Lachaise cemetery
The eastern churchyard is located in the part of the city of the same name. You can get to its territory from three metro stations:
Philippe Auguste ... Directly near the central entrance to the necropolis.
Père lachaise ... There is a side entrance within a radius of 500 meters.
Gambetta ... The entrance is near the grave of Oscar Wilde.
The entrance is free. Visiting hours: from 8 am to 6 pm. On winter days, the cemetery gates close half an hour earlier.
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For Parisians, it is like la cite des morts - the city of the dead, and for tourists all over the world it is better known as Père Lachaise. This is, in fact, a whole city. On properly planned streets and alleys, there are palaces (tombs with complex sculptural compositions), cottages (family crypts with modest or majestic gravestones) and apartment buildings - columbariums. The forged iron signs bear the numbers of the plots and more than 6 thousand trees. The necropolis became known to the whole world as an open-air museum of tombstone sculptures.
Cemetery park
The famous graves of Père Lachaise
The necropolis covers an area of 48 hectares. The history of its creation goes back to 1804. It was then that the cemetery was founded and named after François de la Chaise, confessor to King Louis XIV. At the time of its opening, it was located far outside the city limits. At first, the Parisians did not want to bury their relatives there. Therefore, for greater popularity, the remains of the great Moliere and La Fontaine were transferred to the new cemetery, and in 1817 the remains of Pierre Abelard and Héloise (practically French Romeo and Juliet), whose romantic love shook many to the core, were reburied.
And then the Parisians wanted to be buried after their death, surrounded by famous people. According to records, the number of those buried in this cemetery has increased over the years from several tens to 30 thousand people. Today there are more than a million burials, not counting the columbarium. Only Parisians or those who died in Paris have the right to be buried in a cemetery.
The cemetery has given eternal shelter to many famous writers, artists, actors, and politicians. People come to their graves to honor the memory of the dead. These are the graves of Honore de Balzac (site no. 48), Modigliani (study area no. 96), Edith Piaf (study area no. 97), Sarah Bernhardt (study no. 44). But this is just a drop in the sea of all famous people who found their eternal peace here.
One of the frequently visited graves is the grave of F. Chopin - the composer who wrote the "Funeral March", to the sounds of which most of the people in this cemetery were buried, and the author himself.
Balzac described this cemetery in the last part of his novel, Father Goriot. The writer's last refuge is also here.
The burials associated with the death of a large number of people are impressive. This is the Memorial to the Victims of Nazi Concentration Camps (No. 97), a monument to Russian participants in the Resistance movement in France.
Among the famous places of Père Lachaise is the Wall of the Communards (study number 76), at which 147 members of the Paris Commune were executed in the spring of 1871. Ironically, Adolphe Thiers, the man who gave the order to shoot the defenders of the Paris Commune, is also buried in this place (study number 55).
Legends of the Père Lachaise cemetery
Some tombs attract attention thanks to their secrets and legends, and attract many visitors with stories of miraculous cases of healing. There is a certain ritual that must be followed in order to achieve the desired result.
There are always many visitors near the tombstone of the French journalist Victor Noir, who was shot by the emperor's nephew during a dispute. Men come to ask for masculine strength, women - to know the happiness of motherhood. Rumor has it that when the body of the murdered man was brought to the morgue, an unusual thing happened: his genital organ came to life. This event was the reason for its extraordinary popularity.
Those who dream of eternal love come to the grave of Oscar Wilde. They say that if you whisper a wish and kiss the sphinx carved on the gravestone of the writer, the wish will come true. The spirit of the ironic Wilde suits the heart of only the most diligent. Therefore, they kiss the tombstone, write a declaration of love with lipstick, as shown in the film "Paris, I love you." In addition, the grave is popular with people of non-traditional sexual orientation. Rumor has it that they visit their idol at night. Although the cemetery is closed at this time of day, a high wall surrounds the necropolis.
"Defeat the demon within yourself" - the epitaph on the tombstone of the cult singer Jim Morrison. Its fans stand out among tourists: they talk loudly, smoke marijuana, throw cigarette butts. Because of this, they even wanted to move the singer's ashes to another place, but his grave is in fifth place in terms of attendance.
It is said that the Pere Lachaise cemetery has magical powers. Witches, black magicians and other representatives of the "profession" more than once organized their sabbaths here. However, it is unlikely that you will be able to notice the gloomy notes in walks along Père Lachaise.
In the columbarium, among many others, Nestor Makhno, who died in poverty, and Isadora Duncan, who died from an absurd accident, found their last refuge.
Pere Lachaise cemetery - useful information
Cemetery address: 16 Rue du Repos, 75020, Paris Pere Lachaise Gambetta
Website www.pere-lachaise.com
Pere Lashaise metro station is at a distance of 500 m from the side entrance, Philippe Auguste station is right next to the main entrance, and Gambetta station is not far from the tomb of Oscar Wilde, from where you can already walk through the vast territory of the necropolis.
Admission to the cemetery is free, opening hours are daily from 8.00 to 18.00.
Pere Lachaise Cemetery Map
1 - Sarah Bernhardt (1844 - 1923): actress. Division 91
2 - Guillaume Apollinaire (1880 - 1918): poet. Division 86
3 - Honore de Balzac (1799 - 1850): writer. Division 48
4 - Beaumarchais (1732 - 1799): writer. Division 28
5 - Fuhljens Bienveüe (1852 - 1936): father of the Paris metro. Division 82
6 - Maria Callas (1923 - 1977): opera singer. In the columbarium
7 - Frederic Chopin (1810 - 1849): pianist and composer. Division 11
8 - Auguste Comte (1798 - 1857): philosopher. Division 17
9 - Georges Courteline (1858 - 1929): writer. Division 89
10 - Eugene Delacroix (1798 - 1863): painter. Division 49
11 - Pierre DESPROGES (1939 - 1988): humorist. Division 10
12 - Paul Eluard (1895 - 1952): poet. Section 97
13 - Theodore Gericault (1791 - 1824): painter. Division 12
14 - Baron Haussmann (1809 - 1891): Prefect of Paris. Division 4
15 - Dominique Ingres (1780 - 1867): painter. Division 23
16 - Jean de La Fontaine (1621 - 1695): novelist, poet. Division 25
17 - Moliere (1622 - 1673): Writer, actor. Division 25
18 - Amedeo Modigliani (1884 - 1920): artist. Division 96
19 - Yves Montand (1921 - 1991): singer, actor / Simone Signoret (1921 - 1985): actress. Division 44
20 - Jim Morrison (1943 - 1971): singer. Division 6
21 - Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857): writer. Division 4
22 - Antoine PARMENTIER (1737 - 1813): agronomist. Division 39
23 - Edith Piaf (1915 - 1963): singer. Division 97
24 - Camille Pissarro (1830 - 1903): painter. Division 7
25 - Marcel Proust (1871 - 1922): writer. Division 85
26 - Gertrude Stein (1874 - 1946): art critic, writer. Division 94
27 - Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900): writer. Division 89
In the app you can download a more detailed map of the Pere Lachaise cemetery in French.
RUSSIAN CEMETERY
SAINT-GENEVIEW-DE-BOIS(France)
The Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois is public and located a few kilometers south of Paris. In 1927, Princess Vera Kirillovna Meshcherskaya (1876-1949) reserved part of the cemetery for the burial of Russians who emigrated to France after the 1917 revolution.
Many military and Cossacks of the White Army are buried in the cemetery, in particular Colonel Nikolai Ivanovich Alabovsky (1883-1974), commander of the Markov regiment Abram Mikhailovich Dragomirov (1868-1955), General Pyotr Petrovich Kalinin (1853-1927), General Nikolai Nikolaevich Golovin (1875) -1944), General Alexander Pavlovich Kutepov (1882-1930), General Nikolai Alexandrovich Lokhvitsky (1867-1933), Cossack general Sergei Georgievich Ulagai (1875 (77) -1944) ...
There are also several monuments erected to the glory of the White Army: a monument to the Russian veterans of Gallipoli, in memory of General Mikhail Gordeevich Drozdovsky, in honor of Alekseev's division, a monument to the Don Cossacks.
The cemetery is decorated in Russian traditions (Orthodox crosses, pines and large birches on the territory). Here, under 5,220 gravestones, rest about 15,000 Russians and French of Russian descent.
On the territory of the cemetery, there is the Russian Orthodox Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God (Notre Dame de la Dormicion), which was consecrated on October 14, 1939 by Metropolitan Euloge, who currently rests in the church crypt.
Albert Benois - the building of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Russian Cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois near Paris (he and his wife M.A. Benois painted this temple)
The temple was built in the style of the Novgorod churches of the 15-16th century. Inside, to the right of the iconostasis, there is a memorial plaque in memory of 37 generals, 2605 officers and 29,000 Cossacks who were British prisoners of war in the spring of 1945 and who were tortured during the “massacre of the Cossacks in Lienz” in Austria. The British decided to deliver their prisoners of war to Stalin and killed 300 recalcitrant prisoners, including women and children. Many Cossacks decided to commit suicide with their family and horse, others were given to the Soviet Union and almost all were destroyed. Several surviving Cossacks were amnestied by Khrushchev in 1955.
Since the visit of Vladimir Putin in 2000, the Russian Federation, together with France, has been participating in the maintenance of the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery.
Official representative,
special correspondent
Orenburg military
Cossack society in France
Pascal Gerard
Paris, May 29, 2014
July 16, 1921
the Gallipoli obelisk was solemnly opened; it resembled both an ancient burial mound and the cap of Monomakh, crowned with a cross. On a marble board under the two-headed Russian eagle it was written: “God rest the souls of the departed. The 1st Corps of the Russian Army to its brothers-soldiers who, in the struggle for the honor of their homeland, found eternal rest in a foreign land in 1920-21 and in 1854-55, and to the memory of their Zaporozhian ancestors who died in Turkish captivity. "
The Gallipoli monument was destroyed by an earthquake on 23 July 1949. Its reduced copy as a tribute to the memory of all participants in the White movement in Russia by the fortieth anniversary of the opening, it was decided to install in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, where by that time many members of the movement had found their last refuge. And as once the stones, now the money for the construction of the monument was collected by Russian people, already scattered all over the world.
In this cemetery, 15 thousand Russians are buried in 5220 graves, which gives reason to call the whole cemetery "Russian". Among the emigrants buried in the cemetery, there are many Russian military men, representatives of the clergy, writers, artists, artists ... Looking at the tombstones with Russian names, I felt a lump roll up to my throat ...
In the summer of 1993, only a large wooden cross was installed on the grave of Andrei Tarkovsky. Opposite this cross is a hill covered with a real kilim carpet - the grave of Rudolf Nureyev, who was buried six months ago. Later, in 1996, this woven carpet on his grave will be replaced with a luxurious mosaic carpet.
Buried in the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery:
Bulgakov Sergey Nikolaevich, Russian philosopher, theologian, economist, priest of the Orthodox Church,
Bunin Ivan Alekseevich, writer, the first Russian laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature,
October 22 was born IVAN ALEKSEEVICH BUNIN (October 22, 1870 - November 8, 1953), the first Russian writer - the Nobel Prize laureate, 1933 The writer was born in Voronezh. He spent his childhood at the Ozerki family estate. From 1881 to 1885, Ivan Bunin studied at the Yelets district gymnasium, and four years later he published his first poems. In 1889, Bunin worked as a proofreader for the newspaper Orlovsky Vestnik, where he met Varvara Pashchenko. Parents are not happy with their relationship - in love Varvara and Ivan in 1892 were forced to leave for Poltava. In 1895, after a long correspondence, Bunin met Chekhov. The creations of this period are the collection "Poems", "Open Air", "Leaf Fall". In the 1890s, Bunin traveled on the "Chaika" steamer along the Dnieper and visited the grave of Taras Shevchenko, whose work he loved and subsequently translated a lot. A few years later, he wrote an essay about this journey, "On the Seagull", which will be published in the children's illustrated magazine "Shoots" on November 1, 1898. In 1899, Bunin married the daughter of the Greek revolutionary Anna Tsakni, but the marriage did not work out. After a while they part, and since 1906 Bunin has been living in a civil marriage with Vera Muromtseva. Bunin was awarded the Pushkin Prize three times. In 1909 he was elected an academician in the category of fine literature, becoming the youngest academician of the Russian Academy. In February 1920, Bunin left Russia and emigrated to France. In emigration, Bunin creates his best works: "Mitya's Love", "Sunstroke", "The Case of the Cornet Elagin" and, finally, "The Life of Arseniev." These works became a new word both in Bunin's work and in Russian literature as a whole. In 1933, Bunin became the first Russian writer to receive the Nobel Prize. Ivan Bunin died in his sleep, on the night of November 8, 1953 in Paris. Buried in the cemetery in France, Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.
Galich Alexander Arkadevich, playwright, poet, bard,
Alexander Arkadievich Galich (Ginzburg) (10/19/1918 - 12/15/1977), was born in Yekaterinoslavl (now - Dnepropetrovsk), spent his childhood in Sevastopol, before emigration he lived in Moscow.
Graduated from the theater studio. K.S. Stanislavsky (1938). Actor, poet, playwright. Author of about 20 plays and film scripts. Laureate of several domestic and international prizes, laureate of the Stalin Prize, State. USSR Prize (1987). Since 1955, a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR, expelled from the joint venture and from the Literary Fund in 1971, reinstated in 1988. Since 1958, a member of the Union of Cinematographers (expelled in 1972, reinstated in 1988). Since 1972, Orthodox.
In June 1974 he was forced to leave his homeland. For a year he lived in Oslo, where he recorded the CD "Cry in a Whisper". He joined the NTS (People's Labor Union), worked at the radio station "Freedom" in 1975 in Munich, at the end of 1976 in Paris, led the section of culture.
At the end of 1976, he removed the document. film "Refugees of the XX century". I wanted to write a book about NTS.
He performed in Israel, USA, Western Europe.
On December 3, 1977 he gave his last concert in Venice.
He died in Paris and is buried in the Russian Orthodox cemetery in Sainte-Genevieve des Bois near Paris.
In 1988, the decisions on the exclusion of Galich from the UK and the joint venture were canceled, and a commission on literary heritage was formed.
Gippius Zinaida Nikolaevna, poet,
Zinaida Gippius - Russian poet and writer of the "Silver Age" era
November 20, 1869 - September 9, 1945
Zinaida Nikolaevna Gippius was born on November 20, 1869 in Belyov, Tula Region, in a German noble family of a lawyer. Due to her father's work, the family often changed their place of residence, and the girl studied in many schools.
Since childhood, Zina was fond of poetry and painting, she loved horseback riding. In 1888, Gippius met her future husband Dmitry Merezhkovsky. In the same year, she began to publish her poems and novels in the Severny Vestnik.
Gippius stood at the origins of Russian symbolism. Together with her husband, they founded the Religious and Philosophical Society in St. Petersburg.
Later, collections of stories by Gippius on philosophical themes were published - "The Scarlet Sword", "Moon Ants". In 1911, the novel "Devil's Doll" was written.
The poetess also writes essays, most often under the pseudonym Anton Krainy, although he also uses other names Lev Pushchin, Comrade German, Roman Arensky, Anton Kirsha, Nikita Vecher.
After the October Revolution of 1917, Gippius and her husband emigrated to Paris and in a subsequent collection of poems sharply condemned the new system of Russia. In emigration, she continues to engage in creativity, as well as active social activities.
Zinaida Gippius died in Paris on September 9, 1945. She was buried next to her husband in the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery.
Olga Glebova-Sudeikina, actress,
Zaitsev Boris Konstantinovich, Writer,
Boris Konstantinovich Zaitsev (January 29, 1881, Oryol - January 28, 1972, Paris) - Russian writer and translator, one of the last major figures of the Silver Age.
Father Konstantin Nikolaevich Zaitsev is the director of the Guzhon Moscow paper mill, from the nobility of the Simbirsk province. He spent his childhood in the village of Usty in the Zhizdrinsky district of the Kaluga province (now the Duminichsky district of the Kaluga region). He received his primary education under the guidance of governesses. In Kaluga he studied at the classical gymnasium (1892-1894; did not graduate, in 1902 he passed the exam in ancient languages at the 6th Moscow gymnasium as an external student). He graduated from the Kaluga Real School (1894-1897, additional class - 1898). He studied at the chemical department of the Moscow Technical School (1898-1899, expelled for participating in student riots), at the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg (1899-1901; did not graduate), at the law faculty of Moscow University (1902-1906; did not graduate).
He began to write at the age of 17. In the fall of 1900, in Yalta, he met A.P. Chekhov. At the beginning of 1901 he sent the manuscript of the story "An uninteresting story" to Chekhov and V. G. Korolenko. In the same year he met L. N. Andreev, who helped him at the beginning of his literary career, introduced him to the literary circle "Wednesday", led by N. Teleshov. In July 1901 he made his debut with the story "On the Road" in "Courier". In 1902 or 1903 he met I. A. Bunin, with whom he maintained friendly relations for many years.
He lived in Moscow, often visiting St. Petersburg. Member of the Moscow Literary and Artistic Circle (1902), participated in the publication of the magazine "Zori" (1906), which had existed for several months, since 1907, a full member of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature, also a member of the Society of Periodicals and Literature Workers.
In 1904 he visited Italy, lived there several times in 1907-1911. During the First World War, he lived in Pritykin with his wife and daughter Natalya. In December 1916 he entered the Alexander Military School, in March 1917 he was promoted to officer. In the brochure "Conversation about the War" (Moscow, 1917) he wrote about the aggressiveness of Germany, pursued the idea of war to a victorious end. In August 1917 he fell ill with pneumonia and went on vacation to Pritykino, where he lived until 1921, occasionally visiting Moscow. In 1922 he was elected chairman of the Moscow branch of the All-Russian Union of Writers. He worked at the Writers' Cooperative Shop.
After the revolution he perceived tragically and the subsequent civil war, when the writer's nephew and stepson were killed, he was arrested for active participation in Pomgol (organizing aid to the starving), then he almost died of typhus, Zaitsev and his wife left Russia forever.
In June 1922 Zaitsev and his family moved to Berlin. He worked actively in the magazines "Modern Notes" and "Link". In September 1923 Zaitsev and his family moved to Italy, in December they left for Paris, here he later lived for about half a century. In October 1925 he became the editor of the Riga magazine Perezvony, in 1927 he published his works in the Parisian newspaper Vozrozhdenie.
The spring of 1927 was marked by a trip to Mount Athos, which resulted in the appearance of travel sketches under the same name "Athos".
From 1925 to 1929 in the newspaper "Vozrozhdenie" and "Days" was published the first part of the diary entries "Wanderer". These records are dedicated to life in France.
In addition, Zaitsev was engaged in the selection of materials for the literary biography of I. S. Turgenev, A. P. Chekhov, V. A. Zhukovsky, which were subsequently published.
Zaitsev traveled a lot in France, these travels were reflected in essays about such French cities as Grasse, Nice, Avignon.
In the early years of World War II, Zaitsev again turned to publishing his diary entries. A series of new diary entries "Days" was published in the newspaper "Vozrozhdenie". After France was occupied by Germany in 1940, there were no publications by Zaitsev in Russian editions. During these years, Zaitsev refused in every possible way to draw his own conclusions about political troubles. But he continues to work, so in 1945 the story "King David" was published.
In 1947 Zaitsev worked for the Parisian newspaper Russkaya Mysl, in the same year he was elected chairman of the Union of Russian Writers in France. This position remains until the end of his life.
In 1959 he began to cooperate with the almanac "Bridges" in Munich, corresponded with BL Pasternak.
1957 - a difficult year in Zaitsev's personal life, the writer's wife suffers a stroke, Zaitsev spends all days near his wife's bed, continuing to work on the genre of everyday diary entries.
The years of emigration were fruitful years of Zaitsev's work, more than 30 books in Russian were published, about 800 texts in periodicals.
Abroad he collaborated in emigrant publications ("Modern Notes", "Renaissance", "Russian Thought", "New Journal" and others). For many years he was the chairman of the Union of Russian Writers and Journalists. One of the founders and member of the "Icon" society in Paris (1927). In the 1950s. was a member of the Commission for the translation into Russian of the New Testament in Paris. In 1962 he was nominated by R.V. Pletnev for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Books:
Far edge, 1915
Travelers, Paris, "Russian Land", 1921
St. Nicholas, Berlin, "The Word", 1923
Venerable Sergius of Radonezh, Paris, 1925
Golden Pattern, Praha, 1926
Athos. Travel Sketch, Paris, 1928
Anna, Paris, 1929
The life of Turgenev. Biography, Paris, 1932
House in Passy, Berlin, 1935
Gleb's journey. Tetralogy:
1. Zarya, Berlin, 1937
2. Silence, Paris, 1948
3. Youth, Paris, 1950
4. The Tree of Life, New York, 1953
Moscow, Paris, 1939, München, 1960, 1973
Zhukovsky. Biography, Paris, 1951
Chekhov. Biography, New York, 1954
Quiet Dawns, München, 1973
Far away. Articles, Washington, 1965
River of Times, New York, 1968
My contemporaries. Essays, London, 1988
The life of Sergius of Radonezh
Buried in the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery.
Ivanov Georgy Vladimirovich, Russian poet, prose writer, translator,
Izvolsky Petr Petrovich, Russian public and statesman, chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod,
Kokovtsov, Vladimir Nikolaevich, Count, Minister of Finance, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire,
Kolchak Sofia Fedorovna, widow of A. V. Kolchak, admiral of the Russian fleet, Supreme ruler of Russia, leader of the White movement,
Korovin Konstantin Alekseevich, artist,
Kutepov, Alexander Pavlovich, general, one of the leaders of Bely
movement,
“Based on the biography of Kutepov, our children and grandchildren will learn how to serve the Fatherland. Whoever Kutepov was - whether a junior officer in peacetime and in war, whether a regiment commander in the period of revolution and anarchy, whether a corps commander or an army commander in a civil war - he always and everywhere was an example of an officer, chief and loyal servant of Russia "
General E.K. Miller
Kshesinskaya Matilda Feliksovna, ballerina,
Lifar Serge, choreographer,
Lvov Georgy Evgenievich, prince, head and minister of the Provisional Government,
Dmitry Merezhkovsky, poet,
Mozzhukhin Ivan Ilyich, movie actor,
Nekrasov Viktor Platonovich, Writer,
Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich, ballet dancer,
Obolenskaya Vera Apollonovna, princess, member of the resistance movement in France, beheaded in Berlin prison Plotzensee,
Olga Preobrazhenskaya, ballerina,
Prokudin-Gorsky Sergei Mikhailovich, photographer, chemist, inventor,
Remizov Alexey Mikhailovich, Writer,
Romanov Gabriel Konstantinovich, prince of imperial blood, great-grandson of Emperor Nicholas I,
Romanova Irina Alexandrovna, grand duchess,
Serebryakova Zinaida Evgenievna, Russian artist,
Somov Konstantin Andreevich, artist,
Stolypina Olga Borisovna, wife of P.A.Stolypin, the prime minister of Russia, assassinated in 1911,
Tarkovsky Andrey Arsenievich, film director,
“Does death frighten me? - he reflected in the documentary film by Donatella Balivo, dedicated to his work. - In my opinion, death does not exist at all. There is some kind of act, painful, in the form of suffering. When I think about death, I think about physical suffering, not death itself. Death, in my opinion, simply does not exist. I don’t know ... Once I dreamed that I died, and it looked like the truth. I felt such a release, such an incredible lightness that, perhaps, it was the feeling of lightness and freedom that gave me the feeling that I had died, that is, freed from all connections with this world. Anyway, I don't believe in death. There is only suffering and pain, and often a person confuses these - death and suffering. Do not know. Maybe when I come across this directly, I will become scared, and I will reason differently ... It's hard to say. "
Today is the Day of Remembrance of the director who has become a legend - Andrei TARKOVSKY!
“Art exists only because the world is badly arranged,” he said…. No, it was not conceived, not badly created, but it is arranged right now, when we ourselves have taken on its design…. And the task of art - he considered - is a return to the origins, to true harmony ... With his films - which were REFLECTIONS OF THE HIGHEST - he tried to comprehend this harmony ... Each of his films became a masterpiece, an example of real, pure philosophy - striving for Wisdom ...
He died in Paris on December 29, 1986. The director's funeral took place at the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois in the vicinity of Paris.
Hundreds of people came to the courtyard of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, where they were serving the funeral service for Andrei Tarkovsky. On the steps of the church, Mstislav Rostropovich played the sublimely austere "Sarabanda" by Bach on the cello. His gravestone, made by Ernst Neizvestny, bears the inscription - "TO THE MAN WHO SEEN THE ANGEL".
A LIGHT MEMORY OF THE GREAT DIRECTOR!
Teffi (Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya), writer,
Sheremetev Alexander Dmitrievich, Russian philanthropist and musician, grandson of Nikolai Sheremetev and singer Praskovya Zhemchugova,
Felix Feliksovich Yusupov, prince, organizer of the assassination of Rasputin. Buried with his wife Yusupova Irina Alexandrovna, Russian Grand Duchess, great-granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I and niece of Nicholas II,
and many, many others ...
Tombstone of Alexander Galich
The grave of Andrei Tarkovsky and his wife Larisa
Headstone on the grave of Dmitry Merezhkovsky and Zinaida Gippius
Headstone at the grave of Rudolf Nureyev. At first glance, it looks like a real carpet, but in fact it is made of mosaics ... Rudolph collected carpets. And the design of the carpet on the grave repeats the design of one of his favorite carpets.
Tombstones to General Drozdovsky and his Drozdovsky
Headstones on the graves of the Cossacks.
The Russian government has allocated almost 610 thousand euros to pay off debt for the lease of land plots in the Russian cemetery in the French Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois. The corresponding order was published on October 1 on the official portal of legal information, ITAR-TASS reports. We are talking about the transfer of a voluntary contribution from Russia to the state treasury of the French Republic to the account of the municipality (city hall) of the city of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois (department of Essonne) in the amount of the indicated amount.
These funds will be used to repay the debt for rent of 480 plots in the cemetery "A" (Russian sector) in order to renew the expired concessions for rent in favor of the relatives of those who are buried there.
The Ministry of Finance was instructed to allocate the necessary funds from the budget for the current year, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation was instructed to draw up the necessary documents and transfer money.
The cemetery in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois is called the most Russian place of the “big” Paris. In the 1920s, in this suburb of the French capital, at the expense of Princess Vera Meshcherskaya, a Russian home was opened for elderly Russian nobles who fled from the revolution and were deprived of their livelihood. At the same time, the first graves with Orthodox crosses appeared at the local cemetery, and a little later a small church was built. Over time, Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois became the focus of the Russian emigration.
Among the emigrants buried in the cemetery are many prominent military men, clergymen, writers, painters, and actors. In particular, the writer Ivan Bunin, the photographer Sergei Proskudin-Gorsky, the prime minister of the Provisional Government, Prince Georgy Lvov, the widow and son of Admiral Alexander Kolchak, and many other participants in the White movement are buried here. Already in a later era, the bard Alexander Galich, director Andrei Tarkovsky, were buried in the Russian cemetery.
In 2008, the Russian government has already allocated more than 600 thousand euros to pay off debt to France for the lease of land in order to prevent the demolition of the cemetery. And this is very gratifying: the manner of destruction of cemeteries and pre-revolutionary memorials, inherent in the Soviet era, is gradually being replaced by the traditional approach to venerating the graves of our ancestors. After all, it was not for nothing that the great Pushkin wrote:
Two feelings are wonderfully close to us
In them, the heart finds food:
Love for the native ashes,
Love for fatherly coffins.
Russian line
Russian corner of the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery this fall:
Cimetière communal de Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois). This was the only object in our program that did not fall into the scope of the New Year's orgy. Everything was calm here. Indeed, this place is significant only for those who know and love Russian history and culture.
Founded by the emigrants of the first wave, that is, post-revolutionary, it gave the last refuge to many Russians who lived and worked in France. Some of them were members of the resistance who contributed to the fight against fascism. Here are also the emigrants of the second wave - dissidents of the Soviet era.
In the Soviet Union, it became known about this cemetery, perhaps, after the publication in the seventies of a poem by R. Rozhdestvensky:
"Small trough. The candles are swollen.
The stone is whitened by the rains.
The former are buried here.
Cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.
Dreams and prayers are buried here.
Tears and valor. "Goodbye!" and "Hurray!"
Staff captains and midshipmen.
Grabs the colonel and the cadet.
White guard, white flock.
White army, white bone ...
Grass grows on wet slabs.
Russian letters. French churchyard ... "
The "Small Church" of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in this cemetery was built by Albert Benois. He is a representative of a huge creative family that has enriched Russian culture. Architects with this surname built Petersburg, published the World of Arts magazine, were theater artists and actors. This family includes architect L. Benois, artist Z. Serebryakova (buried in the same cemetery), sculptor E. Lanzare, English theater and film actor Peter Ustinov.
Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Russian cemetery.
The grave of Zinaida Serebryakova, an artist whose work we met only in the seventies. Her paintings then and now are extremely popular. Suffice it to recall the adorable self-portrait
"In front of the mirror".
Monument to General M.V. Alekseev and the participants of the White movement. There are many burials of participants in the Civil War in the cemetery.
This cemetery rests the entire "Silver Age" of Russian émigré literature. Buried here: V.L. Andreev, I.A.Bunin, Gaito Gazdanov, Z.N. Gippius, B.K. Zaitsev, G.V. Ivanov, D.S. Merezhkovsky, V.N. Muromtseva-Bunina, N.A. Otsup, B. Poplavsky, A.M. Remezov, Teffi, I.S.Shmelev. All of them expressed themselves in pre-revolutionary times in Russia and during emigration. Often not understood, often in poverty, obsessed with memories of the Motherland and sometimes finding themselves in new conditions. Research has now been written about each of them. Each biography is a novel that does not have a happy ending.
Irina Odoevtseva, poetess, wife of the poet Georgy Ivanov, who, having buried her husband, returned to Russia in her old age, wrote about life in Paris:
"We walk along the embankment at night.
How good - let's go, we are silent together.
And we see the Seine, the tree, the cathedral
And the clouds ... And this conversation
We will postpone for tomorrow, for later,
For the after-tomorrow ... For when we die. "
IA Bunin, Nobel laureate, author of "Cursed Days", a desperate work about the revolution in Russia. In Paris, recognized and famous, he found no peace. Confused personal life, the theme of the Motherland, which did not leave until the end. Already during the war he wrote "Dark Alleys" - Russian life, Russian characters.
D.S. Merezhkovsky, writer, philosopher, encyclopedist. His creative legacy contains 24 volumes. For many years it was completely banned in the homeland. Religious philosophy did not correlate well with the Marxist-Leninist philosophy, the only correct one, therefore - correct. In Soviet times, I happened to read a pre-revolutionary edition of his trilogy "Christ and Antichrist" - "Death of the Gods, Julian the Apostate", "Resurrected Gods. Leonardo da Vinci "," Antichrist. Peter and Alexey ". An attempt to combine spiritual and earthly values, a brilliant description of the historical background. In the West, Merezhkovsky was regarded as a continuer of the traditions of the Russian novel, influencing Thomas Mann and Joyce. Now Merezhkovsky is almost forgotten.
Here is buried Gaito Gazdanov, a writer discovered in Russia only in recent years. A participant in the Civil War, a Parisian chauffeur, a brilliant stylist who wrote the novels The Ghost of Alexander Wolf, An Evening at Claire's, Roads at Night, and others. He formulated his life experience as follows: a convinced person, do not draw conclusions, do not reason and try to be as simple as possible. And remember that the greatest happiness on earth is to think that you have understood at least something from the life around you. " And one more thing: "But the red ones are also right, and the green ones too, and if there were still orange and purple, then they would be equally right."
Brilliant Teffi, whose merry works were read in Russia before the revolution. Published in the magazine "Satyricon". In France, she was recognized and did not lose her sense of humor. Now, after her death, her works are undergoing a renaissance in Russia. Teffi didn't like being called a humorist. “Jokes are funny only when they are told. When they are experienced, it is already a tragedy. My life is an anecdote, which means it is a tragedy. " Already in old age she turned to God with a prayer: "When I die, Lord, send your best Angels to take my soul."
The grave of K.A. Korovin, painter, portraitist, theater artist, friend of Chaliapin, author of memoirs about him. In addition to painting, he left a great literary heritage. He explained: "Closing my eyes, I saw Russia, its marvelous nature, Russian people, my beloved friends, eccentrics, kind and so-so - with all sorts of things, whom I loved, of which" some are gone, and those are far away ... "
Buried in this cemetery is the Artist KASomov, one of the founders of the World of Arts society, the author of the illustrated Book of the Marquise.
S. Lifar is a soloist of S. Diaghilev's Russian Ballet, who headed the ballet troupe of the Grand Opera. He has staged over 200 performances in France and founded the University of Choreography.
In this cemetery we were accompanied by a white cat, apparently a homeless one.
"As a cat I am homeless,
I'm sick of a cat. "
I. Odoevtseva.
Burial place of M.F. Kshesinskaya, prima ballerina of the Imperial Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, her husband, Grand Duke A.V. Romanov and son V.A. Romanov - Krasinsky. This dancer charmed the heir to the throne and the grand dukes. The Art Nouveau mansion presented to her at the beginning of the Kamennoostrovsky Prospect of the Petrogradskaya Storona is its adornment. After 1917, he was busy with all sorts of revolutionary organizations, including the Museum of the Revolution. Nevertheless, residents of St. Petersburg continue to stubbornly call it the Kshesinskaya mansion. Funny litigation between Kshesinskaya and Lenin for this mansion. Guess who won. In Paris, she founded a choreographic school, where she taught dance to a ripe old age.
The grave of the Yusupovs, the same Yusupovs, relatives of the royal house. Prince Felix Feliksovich is the organizer of the assassination of Rasputin. He fled from Russia after this act. His mother Zinaida Nikolaevna and his beautiful wife Irina Aleksandrovna are buried in the same grave.
This cemetery represents the second wave of Russian emigration - the dissidents of the Soviet era. These people, in conditions of like-mindedness, allowed themselves to have and express their own opinion. Among them V.P. Nekrasov, author of the first truthful work about the war "In the trenches of Stalingrad". In these trenches, he made friends with my uncle G.A. Obradovich. Both are architects by profession, they corresponded for many years. Nekrasov, once favored by the authorities, did not demonstrate due loyalty, for which he was expelled from the USSR. Lilianna Lungina writes warmly about Nekrasov in "Interlinear", who was friends with him. She wrote that Nekrasov was the freest person she knew. During their meeting in Paris, Nekrasov said that he did not become a Frenchman, but that he became a Parisian.
VP Nekrasov, author of "In the trenches of Stalingrad".
Grave of A. Galich.
Near this grave, one of the young tourists asked me who Galich was. I was even confused. To say that he is a successful Soviet screenwriter, playwright, as Lungina, who knew him, “a Soviet bourgeois and a snob,” writes, is useless here. For me, Alexander Galich is the author of protest poems and songs performed with a guitar. As students, we sang “ About the sad story about Moscow and about Paris, how our physicists bet a bet to their physicists ". The consequence of this sad story was:
"And I am personally treated with the" capital ",
So that I don't go crazy
The stoker said - "capital" -
Very good for strontium. "
More:
“I go and think, slowly,
- Whether to become me the President of the United States,
T whether to take and graduate from the Higher School of Art! .. " (For those who do not know, the Higher Party School is the Higher Party School).
And also tragic poems-songs:
"Clouds are floating to Abakan", "When I return." Galich writes about the available forms of protest against "fanfare silence and the glorification of poly-thoughtless thoughtlessness":
“There is - there is a picture on a stretcher!
Yes - four copies have been tapped!
There is a tape recorder of the "Yauza" system!
It's enough!"
Galich was the first to ask a question about the possibility of protest under Soviet conditions:
“And everything is the same, not easier,
Our century tries us.
You can go out to the square
You dare to go out to the square
At that appointed hour ?! "
So I should have answered the young man who asked the question who Galich is, if I had not been at a loss.
V.E. is buried here. Maximov, founder and editor-in-chief of the Continent magazine. Writers, publicists, critics, human rights activists, and memoirists united around this magazine. The Nobel laureates A. Sakharov, A. Solzhenitsyn, G. Böll, I. Brodsky collaborated in it. V. Nekrasov, N. Korzhavin, V. Aksyonov and many other creative people who did not find themselves in the Soviet system were part of the editorial board.
Andrei Tarkovsky, film director, screenwriter, is also buried here. He is the author of famous films: Andrei Rublev, Ivan's childhood, Solaris, Mirror, Stalker, Sacrifice. A. Tarkovsky left a literary legacy, the depth of which is surprising. Here are some quotes from it:
“Throwing even a fleeting glance back at the life that remains behind you, remembering even the not brightest moments of the past, you are still amazed every time by the uniqueness of those events in which you took part, the uniqueness of those characters that you encountered.
Hope may be a deception, but it makes it possible to live and love beauty. There is no man without hope.
Life is only a period allotted to a person, during which he can and must form his spirit in accordance with his own understanding of the Purpose of human existence.
Life, of course, has no meaning.
The purpose of art is to prepare a person for death, to plow and loosen his soul, to make it capable of turning to good.
Time is the condition for the existence of our "I".
Life turns out to be richer than fantasy.
A book read by thousands of people is thousands of different books.
To be free, you just need to be, without asking anyone for permission.
We have created a civilization that threatens the destruction of humanity.
A truly free person cannot be free in the egoistic sense of the word. "
One of the last buried here is the famous Rudolf Nureyev, a graduate of the Vaganov Choreographic School, a soloist of the Mariinsky Theater in Leningrad, who scandalously left the USSR. In the West, he made a brilliant career as a dancer and choreographer.
I would like to finish the story about this cemetery with poems by A. Gorodnitsky, written in 1996:
"At the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois
Forgetfulness does not grow grass, -
Dress her up like a lover
The gardener cuts regularly.
At the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery
Where statues freeze in arctic fox boa
The emigrants found peace, -
Russian freedom guarantors.
….
Ringing at the cloister of Sainte-Genevieve
Starlings who have flown in a two-syllable melody,
Tying her with bird song
With Donskoy or Novo-Devichy.
Again in anticipation of a new spring
The dead have Moscow dreams,
Where the blizzard is spinning twisted,
Cast crosses flying around.
Familiar from childhood, native places,
And the dome shines over the temple of Christ,
Bending the dead to hope
That everything will return as before.
In the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois
Disappeared from the planet like a moa bird,
A swan flock lies
Growing into the Parisian land.
Between the marble angels and Terpsichore
An invisible chorus sings them canons,
And no, it's clear from the singing,
Freedom besides success. "
10,000 Russian people are buried in this Parisian cemetery. They all loved Russia.
Margarita Ruppert.
♦ Heading:.Contacts
The address: 16 Rue du Repos, 75020 Paris, France
Telephone: +33 1 55 25 82 10
March 16 - November 5: Mon-Fri from 8:00 to 18:00; Sat from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm; Sun from 9:00 to 18:00
November 6 - March 15 Mon-Fri from 8:00 to 17:30; Sat from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm; Sun from 9:00 to 17:30
Entrance: free
Official site: www.pere-lachaise.com
Paris, the city of lovers and a brilliant history, captured in numerous architectural monuments. People come here from all over the world to breathe in the enchanting air of royal splendor and modern spirit of freedom.
Paris is rich in sights. The capital of France has something to surprise and inspire tourists.
Legendary and, and, of course, the names of these places are known all over the world.
But there is also a fabulously beautiful private garden called Albert-Kahn, which has spread its paths and bridges, whole thickets of green spaces and cozy artificial lakes in one of the northwestern parts of Paris, in the area of picturesque old mansions, which in themselves are already worthy of attention ... And, of course, Disneyland Paris is the dream of every child and adult. One of the treasures of Paris is the legendary Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris - the final resting place of many famous people.
Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris and its history
The cemetery of Père Lachaise still appeared in the Middle Ages on the site of a poor quarter on an abandoned o
Outskirts of Paris, on Sharron Hill. In this sanctuary of thieves and criminals of all stripes on some mysterious whim built imagine a luxurious mansion in 1430 one well-to-do Parisian merchant.
He lived his life in the mansion quite happily. But nothing lasts forever - after the death of the merchant, both the mansion and the land on which he was located went to the powerful at that time the Jesuit order.
Two centuries later, this land already existed not only a vast cemetery, but also a magnificent monastic garden with a luxurious greenhouse for those times with outlandish plants. The garden was intricately decorated with porticoes, fountains, cozy grottoes and magnificent waterfalls and was a truly amazing sight. Already in those distant times, the most famous cemetery in Paris, Père Lachaise, attracted crowds of nobility, thirsting for beauty and solitude. The pampered aristocrats even arranged romantic dates here and confessed their love under the canopy of trees.
However, the Père Lachaise cemetery has also known hard times. In the 18th century, the once powerful Jesuit order went bankrupt. All property went under the hammer. The same sad fate befell Père Lachaise. The magnificent garden was completely destroyed. The new owners decided to redesign it in a newfangled English style. Finally in 1804 the cemetery was bought for a fabulous sum from the previous owners and became the property of the city.
A legend lives here ...
To make this place popular and "recoup" the money invested in an expensive purchase, the authorities of Paris moved here the graves of such famous people as Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his literary pseudonym - Moliere, and beloved French fabulist, master of sharp words and marked jokes, Jean de La Fontaine.
These names alone guaranteed the Père Lachaise cemetery an influx of grateful admirers of the two geniuses. However, the authorities in Paris did not stop there. A few years later, the remains of famous literary heroes and real-life people - a couple in love, whose tender romantic correspondence has spread all over the world - found peace here - Pierre Abelard and his beautiful young student and secret wife Eloise.
The actions of the Parisian authorities to popularize the Pere Lachaise cemetery bore fruit: over two hundred years, more than a million people were buried there. A huge share of this amount were:
- aristocrats,
- cultural figures,
- writers and poets,
- well-known politicians
- and even statesmen.
The Parisians managed to turn the Pere Lachaise cemetery into a "prestigious" burial place. Many powerful people of this world left a mention in their will that they want to find peace in this particular place.
A visit to the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris is an exceptional event in itself, because graves are located on it:
- Frederic Chopin,
- Oscar Wilde,
- Honore de Balzac,
- Modigliani,
- Edith Piaf,
- Marcel Proust
- and many other great people.
In the second half of the 20th century, the cult singer of free love and drugs was buried here. Jim Morrison... Interestingly, fans of his work worship their idol in their own way: they paint graffiti on the tombstone and lay whole wreaths of marijuana leaves on it. The official authorities are trying to combat such lewdness, but to no avail. The "spirit of freedom" is reborn on Père Lachaise every time with renewed vigor.
Visit to the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris
It should be noted that the famous cemetery occupies a huge territory in 47 hectares... To visit the graves of interest and honor the memory of the great people buried here, and just not to get lost in this "city" of majestic monuments and tombstones, it is advisable to buy a map of Père Lachaise. It costs only 2 euros and is sold at a kiosk right at the main entrance.
The cemetery itself is located in the eastern part of Paris, in the 20th municipal district. The main entrance is from Boulevard Menilmontand. You can get to Père Lachaise by metro (Philippe Auguste station).
Père Lachaise is famous not only for the famous names of the people buried here, but also for the magnificent architecture of chapels, tombstones and tombs. The whimsical interweaving of styles from different eras, framed by lush greenery, is already an unforgettable sight in itself.
Pere Lachaise cemetery on the map of Paris:
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