Montparnasse Cemetery () is a cemetery in the

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...

quarter of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, in the city's 14th arrondissement. The cemetery is roughly 47 acres and is the second largest cemetery in Paris. The cemetery has over 35,000 graves, and approximately 1,000 people are buried there each year. The cemetery is the resting place for a variety of individuals including political figures, philosophers, artists, actors, and writers. Additionally, the cemetery contains a number of tombs commemorating those who died in the Franco-Prussian war during the siege of Paris (1870–1871) and the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

(1871).

History

The cemetery was created at the beginning of the 19th century in the southern part of the city. At the same time there were cemeteries outside the city limits:

Passy Cemetery Passy Cemetery () is a small cemetery in Passy, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. History The current cemetery replaced the old cemetery (''l'ancien cimetière communal de Passy'', located on Rue Lekain), which was closed in 1802. ...

to the west,

Montmartre Cemetery The Cemetery of Montmartre () is a cemetery in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, France, that dates to the early 19th century. Officially known as the Cimetière du Nord, it is the third largest necropolis in Paris, after the Père Lachaise Cemet ...

to the north, and

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

to the east. In the 16th century the intersecting roads of Vavin and Raspail were dump areas for rubble and stones from nearby quarries. This created an artificial hill and is where "mont" came into the name Montparnasse. Students at the time would congregate on the hill to participate in open-air dances. During the French Revolution the land and church were confiscated and the cemetery became property of the government. At this time, anyone who died at the hospital and whose body was not claimed was buried here. In the 19th century, cemeteries were banned in Paris due to health concerns. Several new cemeteries outside the precincts of the capital replaced all the internal Parisian ones:

in the north,

in the east, and Montparnasse Cemetery in the south. Montparnasse as well as Père Lachaise and Montmartre replaced the

Cimetière des Innocents The Holy Innocents' Cemetery (French: Cimetière des Saints-Innocents or Cimetière des Innocents) is a defunct cemetery in Paris that was used from the Middle Ages until the late 18th century. It was the oldest and largest cemetery in Paris and ...

(those buried here were relocated to the

Catacombs Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...

). During this time the city of Paris obtained the estate and surrounding grounds in order to create a cemetery for the burial of people who lived in the Left Bank of the city. Previously, these inhabitants were buried in the cemetery of Sainte-Catherine and in the village of Vaugirard. The cemetery at Montparnasse was originally known as ''Le Cimetière du Sud'' (Southern Cemetery) and it officially opened 25 July 1824. Since its opening, more than 300,000 people have been buried in Montparnasse.

Moulin de la Charité

In the 17th century the future location of the cemetery consisted of three farms that belonged to the Hôtel-Dieu hospital and an estate of the Brothers of Charity (frères de la Charité). During this time monks built a windmill that later became a

Guinguette The guinguette (), originating in the 17th century, was a type of popular tavern in the suburb, suburbs of Paris and of other cities in France. The term comes from ''guinguet'', a type of cheap green wine served there. A ''goguette'' was a simi ...

and the home of the cemetery's caretaker. The mill, which is still standing is the last remnant of the farms. Cimetiere Montparnasse moulin Charite

The cemetery today

The main entrance to the cemetery is north of Boulevard Edgar Quinet near the Edgar Quinet Métro station. The cemetery is divided in two parts by the Rue Émile Richard. The small section is usually referred to as the small cemetery (''petit cimetière'') and the large section as the large cemetery (''grand cimetière''). The west of Émile-Richard Street is divided into 21 divisions and to the east of Émile-Richard Street the cemetery is divided into 8 divisions numbered from 22 to 30 (there is no 23rd division). With 47 acres, Montparnasse is a large green space inside the city limits of Paris. Within the cemetery one can find a variety of trees including linden, Japanese pagoda, thuja, maple, ash, and conifers. Because of the many notable people buried there, it is a popular tourist attraction. In 2016, the permanent work ''CAUSSE'' was installed in the preserved section of the Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris. A prominent French scientist commissioned a tomb from the artist engineer Milène Guermont. This work is a single block of ultra high performance concrete and optical fibers composed of 12 sides to materialize the electron de-multiplier cell invented by the client. This sculpture interacts with the environment: when an individual or a bird passes by, one of its points of light can go out or light up. This work has several peaks that refer to the commissioner's native mountains. The first viewing of the artwork was on 1 November 2016.

Commemorative tombs

Montparnasse Cemetery is the resting place of many of France's intellectual and artistic elite and those who promoted the works of authors and artists. There are graves of foreigners who made France their home as well as monuments to police and firefighters killed in the line of duty. Grave Alfred Dreyfus

The cemetery has a number of religious tombs. North of the roundabout is a tomb for priests without family. Rosalie Rendu, member of the Daughters of Charity, has an individual tomb in the 14th division that is always well-decorated. Rendu was beatified in 2003 by the

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. The 5th and 30th divisions were at one time Jewish enclosures and contain many Jewish graves. Adolphe Crémieux, French lawyer and politician, gained citizenship for Jews in French-ruled

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

in 1870.

Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French Army officer best known for his central role in the Dreyfus affair. In 1894, Dreyfus fell victim to a judicial conspiracy that eventually sparked a major political crisis in the Fre ...

, a French Jew, is buried in the south of the cemetery and is known for being unjustly accused and tried for treason, an event that divided France at the turn of the century.

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...

, French poet and author of ''

Les Fleurs du Mal ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; ) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. ''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First published in 1857, it was important in the ...

'' (''The Flowers of Evil''), is buried in division 6, but there is also a

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

to him (between divisions 26 and 27).

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...

's grave is also at Montparnasse. Visitors leave a variety of gifts on his gravesite, ranging from flowers and metro tickets to cabbages. Gainsbourg is considered one of the most popular figures in French popular music and was a French singer, songwriter, pianist, film composer, poet, painter, screenwriter, writer, actor and director.

Marguerite Duras Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu (, 4 April 1914 – 3 March 1996), known as Marguerite Duras (), was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker. Her script for the film ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) ea ...

' grave is recognizable due to a pot and saucer full of planted pens. Duras moved to

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

as a child with her parents, but was sent back to France before the beginning of World War II. Novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker, she received a nomination for

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

at the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

for her script in the film Hiroshima Mon Amour (Hiroshima My Love).

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...

is buried with

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, ; ; 1809 – 19 January 1865) was a French anarchist, socialist, philosopher, and economist who founded mutualist philosophy and is considered by many to be the "father of anarchism". He was the first person to ca ...

, the first person to self-proclaim as an anarchist, is also buried here. Tombe de Jacques Lisfranc

Jacques Lisfranc's tomb is in the 13th division. He started his career as a surgeon during the

German Campaign of 1813 The German campaign () was fought in 1813. Members of the Sixth Coalition, including the German states of Austria and Prussia, plus Russia and Sweden, fought a series of battles in Germany against the French Emperor Napoleon, his marshals, and th ...

. Lisfranc spread his knowledge about the anatomy of the joints of the foot and used this knowledge to treat many patients. Multiple generations of a family can be buried in Montparnasse. In the 14th division are three generations of the Deschanel family who all served in the third republic: Émile Deschanel,

Paul Deschanel Paul Eugène Louis Deschanel (; 13 February 185528 April 1922) was a French politician who served as President of France from 18 February to 21 September 1920. Biography Paul Deschanel, the son of Émile Deschanel (1819–1904), professor at ...

, and Paul-Louis Deschanel. Their bodies rest under the quote, "On n'emporte en mourant que ce que l'on a donné" (We can only take in death what we have given away) The cemetery does not have a monument dedicated to those who died during World War I.

Location

The boundaries of the cemetery are defined as rue Froidevaux in the south, rue Victor-Schœlcher in the east, boulevard Edgar-Quinet in the north, and rue de la Gaîté in the west. However, the main entrance to the cemetery is on Boulevard Edgar Quinet which leads to the large cemetery. There are smaller entrances to both the large and small cemeteries on Rue Émile Richard (near the junction with both Boulevard Raspail and Boulevard Edgar Quinet).

Gallery

File:Ext_tomb_PD.jpg,

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...

grave. File:Tombe Baudelaire.jpg, Tomb of

File:Charles Baudelaire tomb in Montparnasse Cemetery.jpg, The Charles Baudelaire

Cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

. File:Juliocortazar.jpg, Julio Cortázar's grave. File:Leverrier grave.jpg, Grave of

Urbain Le Verrier Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier (; 11 March 1811 – 23 September 1877) was a French astronomer and mathematician who specialized in celestial mechanics and is best known for predicting the existence and position of Neptune using only mathematics. ...

File:Tombeau de Pouqueville.jpg, Grave of François Pouqueville File:Paris - Cimetière du Montparnasse - Edgar Quinet 1.jpg, Grave of Edgar Quinet File:Tombe de Sartre et Beauvoir au cimetière du Montparnasse.jpg, Grave of Jean Paul Sartre and

File:Sartre+Beauvoir grave.JPG, Grave of

and

File:Bakhtiar D8.jpg, Tomb of Shapour Bakhtiar File:Pierre Restany tombe.jpg, Grave of Pierre Restany and Jos De Cock File:Cimetière du Montparnasse (zoom).jpg, Aerial view of Cemetery

References

External links

*
Information and help in touring Montparnasse cemetery
in English. {{Cemeteries in France Cemeteries in Paris Buildings and structures in the 14th arrondissement of Paris Cemeteries established in the 1820s