The Cimetière parisien de Pantin (sometimes known as cimetière parisien de Pantin-Bobigny) is one of the three Parisien cemeteries ''extra muros'', located in the
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
of
Pantin
Pantin () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2019 its population was estimated to be 59,846. Pantin is located on the edge of the city of Paris and is mainly formed by a plain ...
which is in
Seine-Saint-Denis
() is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobigny ...
The cemetery was opened on November 15, 1886. Pantin is one of the three Parisien Cemeteries ''extra muros'', the others being
Cimetière parisien de Thiais
The cimetière parisien de Thiais is one of three Parisian cemeteries ''extra muros'', and is located in the commune of Thiais, in the Val-de-Marne department, in the Île-de-France region.
History
The cemetery was opened in October 1929 and is t ...
(opened in 1929) and
Cimetière parisien de Bagneux
Cimetière parisien de Bagneux is one of the three Parisien cemeteries ''extra muros'', located in Bagneux. The cemetery has a large Jewish section (many of the divisions have exclusively Jewish graves) and is sometimes known as the '' Jewish ce ...
(also opened in 1886).
Since its opening, one million people have been buried in the cemetery, with nearly 5,000 interments taking place annually.
Notes
Pantin is the largest cemetery of Paris, both in number of graves and land area. It is also the largest cemetery in France. Pantin is a garden style burial ground with more than 8,000 trees and streets (a network of 32 kilometers of roads) that allow access by (motor) vehicles.
It has nearly 200,000 graves, grouped in 180 divisions. The cemetery of Pantin is a vast
necropolis
A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead".
The term usually im ...
. The oldest graves are in the first seventeen divisions.
Many of the burials are from the Jewish community (France has the largest
Jewish community
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
) and more recently from the
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
community.
Marthe Erbelding was buried here (her grave was cleared in 1960). Erbelding was an 11-year-old girl who was
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
d and
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
ed by a friend of her parents in 1907. The details of this gruesome crime were widely reported on. As a
result
A result (also called upshot) is the final consequence of a sequence of actions or events expressed qualitatively or quantitatively. Possible results include advantage, disadvantage, gain, injury, loss, value and victory. There may be a range ...
the abolition of
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
was delayed for another 60 years.
Ilan Halimi
The murder of Ilan Halimi ( he, אילן חלימי) was the kidnapping, torture, and murder of a young Frenchman of Moroccan Jewish ancestry in France in 2006. Halimi was kidnapped on 21 January 2006 by a group calling itself the Gang of Barbar ...
, the young
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
, who was kidnapped and tortured to death in 2006, was temporarily buried in Pantin before being reburied in ''
Har HaMenuchot
Har HaMenuchot ( he, הר המנוחות, Ashkenazi pronunciation, Har HaMenuchos, lit. "Mount of Those who are Resting", also known as Givat Shaul Cemetery) is the largest cemetery in Jerusalem. The hilltop burial ground lies at the western ed ...
'' cemetery in Israel on February 9, 2007.''Trials and Tribulations'', by Brett Kline, (c) JTA, The Jewish Herald, July 24, 2009, pp. 20-23
It is one of the least known of the many Parisian cemeteries. The cemetery is a socio-economic reflection of the past decades, with graves for both rich and poor. It has been mentioned in songs such as
Vincent Delerm
Vincent Delerm (born 31 August 1976) is a French singer-songwriter, pianist and composer. He is the son of the writer Philippe Delerm and illustrator Martine Delerm.
His first album was released in 2002, the second, ''Kensington Square'', in ...
's ''Les Trottoirs à l’envers'',
Pierre Perret
Pierre Perret (born 9 July 1934 in Castelsarrasin, Tarn-et-Garonne) is a French singer and composer. Pierre Perret resides in the city of Nangis.
Biography
He spent a long part of his childhood in the café which his parents owned, where he le ...
's ''Ils s’aimaient'' and
Mano Solo
Mano Solo (24 April 1963 – 10 January 2010), born Emmanuel Cabut, was a French singer. He was born in Châlons-sur-Marne on 24 April 1963 to the illustrator Cabu and Isabelle Monin, co-founder of the ecology-related magazine, ''La Gueule ouve ...
's ''Le Monde Entier''.
In July 1973, one hundred Jewish tombstones were desecrated at the cemetery. In addition, some 60 Stars of David were either defaced or smeared.
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, some casualties who died in military hospitals after evacuation from the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
*Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
, the later ones those stationed in the area after the
Armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...
CWGC
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...
website
Individual burials
''Because even the cemetery does not seem to have an exhaustive list of burials and the amount of burials is vast, only a selection'':
* Frédéric Othon Théodore Aristidès (1931-2013), artist
*
Jeanne Aubert
Jeanne Aubert (born Jeanne Perrinot, February 21, 1900 – March 6, 1988) was a French singer and actress.
Biography
Aubert was born in Paris, France, to a single mother, Augustine Marguerite Perrinot, who pushed her daughter into a career in ...
(1906-1988), actress
*
Jacques Audiberti
Jacques Séraphin Marie Audiberti (March 25, 1899 – July 10, 1965) was a French playwright, poet and novelist and exponent of the Theatre of the Absurd.
Audiberti was born in Antibes, France, the son of Louis Audiberti, a master mason, and hi ...
(1899-1965), writer
*
Doris Bensimon
Doris Bensimon (also known as, Doris Bensimon-Donath, 1924 – 8 December 2009) was an Austrian-born French sociologist and academic whose research focused on the study of contemporary Judaism. She taught at the University of Caen and Institut na ...
(1924–2009), Austrian-born French sociologist and academic
*
Émile Bernard
Émile Henri Bernard (28 April 1868 – 16 April 1941) was a French Post-Impressionist painter and writer, who had artistic friendships with Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Eugène Boch, and at a later time, Paul Cézanne. Most of his nota ...
(1868-1941), painter
* Boris Bouieff (1925-1979), writer (anonymous, plain, earthen grave in division 54)
*
Thomas Breakwell
Thomas Breakwell (1872–1902) was the first Englishman to enter the Baháʼí Faith and the first to make the pilgrimage to Acre, Israel ( ʻAkká). He was also the first western Baháʼí to give the Huqúqu'lláh "Right of God", a voluntary co ...
Eugène Criqui
Eugène Criqui (15 August 1893 – 7 July 1977) was a French boxer who held the World Featherweight title in 1923. After his death, he was added to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Eugène was the 2015 Inductee for the Australian Nat ...
René Daumal
René Daumal (; 16 March 1908 – 21 May 1944) was a French spiritual para-surrealist writer, critic and poet, best known for his posthumously published novel ''Mount Analogue'' (1952) as well as for being an early, outspoken practitioner of ...
(1908–1944), writer
*
Gabrielle Fontan
Gabrielle Fontan (16 April 1873 – 8 September 1959) was a French film actress. She appeared in more than 120 films between 1927 and 1959.
Selected filmography
* '' Misdeal'' (1928)
* '' The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard'' (1929)
* '' The La ...
Fréhel
Fréhel (; born Marguerite Boulc'h; 13 July 1891 – 3 February 1951) was a French singer and actress.
Biography
Born in Paris to a poor and dysfunctional Breton family, Marguerite Boulc'h was a child left to a life on the streets in the sordid ...
(1891-1951), singer
*
Wiera Gran
Wiera Gran, real name Dwojra Grynberg (20 April 1916 – 19 November 2007) was a Polish singer and actress of Jewish ancestry.
Wiera Gran had a low alto voice even in early 1934, when at the age of 17 when—using the pseudonym Sylvia Green—s ...
(1916-2007), singer
*
Constantin Guys
Constantin Guys (born Ernest-Adolphe Guys de Saint-Hélène, December 3, 1802 – December 13, 1892) was a French Crimean War correspondent, water color painter and illustrator for British and French newspapers.
Biography
Guys was born and bapti ...
(1802-1892) Dutch-born painter
*
Alphonse Halimi
Alphonse Halimi (February 18, 1932 – November 12, 2006) was a French boxer. He took the World Bantamweight Championship on April 1, 1957, in Paris, and the European Bantamweight Championship three years later.
Early life
He was born in Consta ...
(1932-2006), boxer
*
André Hardellet
André Hardellet (13 February 1911 – 24 July 1974) was a French poet and writer. He was the 1974 winner of the Prix des Deux Magots.Helno (1963-1993), singer with
Les Négresses Vertes
Les Négresses Vertes, which formed in 1987, is a French music group that combines world music and some aspects of alternative rock. Tracks often feature acoustic guitar and accordion, with some containing other traditional instruments such as ...
Ginette Leclerc
Ginette Leclerc (born Geneviève Lucie Menut; February 9, 1912 – January 2, 1992) was a French film actress. She appeared in nearly 90 films between 1932 and 1978. Her last TV appearance was in 1981. She was born in Ile-de-France, France ...
(1912-1991), actress
*
Emmanuel Lévinas
Emmanuel Levinas (; ; 12 January 1906 – 25 December 1995) was a French philosopher of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry who is known for his work within Jewish philosophy, existentialism, and phenomenology, focusing on the relationship of ethics to ...
(1906-1995), philosopher
*
Jean-Pierre Melville
Jean-Pierre Melville (; born Jean-Pierre Grumbach; 20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973) was a French filmmaker and actor. Among his films are ''Le Silence de la mer'' (1949), ''Bob le flambeur'' (1956), '' Le Doulos'' (1962), ''Le Samouraï'' (196 ...
(1917-1973), film director/producer, Resistance fighter
*
Reinette L'Oranaise Sultana Daoud (also known as Reinette l'Oranaise; 1918 in Tiaret, French Algeria – 17 November 1998, in Paris) was an Algerian Jewish singer, who helped preserve Arab-Andalus music, as well as introducing the genre to European audiences.
Early l ...
(1918-1998), singer
*
San Yu
San Yu ( my, စန်းယု, ; 3 March 1918 – 28 January 1996) was a Burmese army general and statesman who served as the fifth president of Myanmar from 9 November 1981 to 27 July 1988.
Biography
San Yu, an ethnic Chinese, was born i ...
(1901-1966), Chinese-French painter
*
Savielly Tartakower
Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish and French chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grand ...
(1887-1956), Polish-French chess Grandmaster, chess journalist and author
*
Jules Védrines
Jules Charles Toussaint Védrines (29 December 1881 – 21 April 1919) was an early French aviator, notable for being the first pilot to fly at more than 100 mph and for winning the Gordon Bennett Trophy race in 1912.
Biography
Jules Védrin ...
(1881-1919), aviator
*
Ilarie Voronca
Ilarie Voronca (pen name of Eduard Marcus; 31 December 1903, Brăila—8 April 1946, Paris) was a Romanian avant-garde poet and essayist. life and career
Voronca was of Jewish ethnicity. In his early years, he was connected with Eugen Lovine ...
(1903-1946), poet
* Louise Weber (1866-1929), Cancan dancer, later reinterred at
Montmartre Cemetery
The Cemetery of Montmartre (french: link=no, Cimetière de 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 ...
*
Jean d'Yd
Jean d'Yd was the stage name of Jean Paul Félix Didier Perret. He was a French actor and comedian, and was born in Paris on 17 May 1880. He died in Vernon, Eure, France on 14 May 1964.
Selected filmography
*1923: ''La Dame de Monsoreau'' (di ...
(1880-1964), actor
Notable ornaments
* The grave of private Germain Verlé, with a sculpture by Georges Meynial (division 15)
* The massive tomb in division 9, dedicated to ''mes maîtres Déon et Dea''
The main entrance to the Cimetière parisien de Pantin is on 164 Avenue Jean Jaurès (it is actually on Avenue du Cimetière Parisien), in Pantin (one of the
banlieu
In France, the term banlieue (; ) refers to a suburb of a large city. Banlieues are divided into autonomous administrative entities and do not constitute part of the city proper. For instance, 80% of the inhabitants of the Paris Metropolitan Are ...
of Paris). There is also a gate named Porte de Petits Points on Avenue du Général Leclerc (near the junction with Chemin des Vignes). There are two other gates, Porte de Pailleux and Porte d'Illustration, but these are only open on
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , " ...
and
All Saints' Day
All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the church, whether they are know ...
Pantin
Pantin () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2019 its population was estimated to be 59,846. Pantin is located on the edge of the city of Paris and is mainly formed by a plain ...
which is served by line E.
The cemetery is also served by bus lines 151 and 152.
There is a
Vélib'
is a large-scale public bicycle sharing system in Paris, France. Launched on 15 July 2007, the system encompassed around 14,500 bicycles and 1,400 bicycle stations, located across Paris and in some surrounding municipalities, with an average da ...