Les Deux Magots () is a famous café and restaurant situated at 6, Place

Saint-Germain-des-Prés Saint-Germain-des-Prés () is one of the four administrative quarters of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France, located around the church of the former Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its official borders are the River Seine on the north ...

in Paris's

6th arrondissement The 6th arrondissement of Paris (''VIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le sixième''. The arrondissement, called Luxembourg in ...

, France. It once had a reputation as the rendezvous of the literary and intellectual elite of the city. It is now a popular tourist destination. Its historical reputation is derived from the patronage of

Surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

artists, intellectuals to the likes of

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, and even th ...

and

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

, as well as young writers, such as

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

. Other patrons included

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, '' ...

and the American writers

James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...

Chester Himes Chester Bomar Himes (July 29, 1909 – November 12, 1984) was an American writer. His works, some of which have been filmed, include ''If He Hollers Let Him Go'', published in 1945, and the Harlem Detective series of novels for which he is best ...

and Richard Wright. The Deux Magots literary prize (Prix des Deux Magots) has been awarded to a French novel every year since 1933 at Les Deux Magots.

Origin of the name

" Magot" literally means "stocky figurine from the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

". The name originally belonged to a fabric and novelty shop at nearby 23 Rue de Buci. The shop sold silk lingerie and took its name from a popular play of the moment (19th century) entitled ''Les Deux Magots de la Chine''. Its two statues represent Chinese " mandarins", or "

magicians Magician or The Magician may refer to: Performers * A practitioner of magic (supernatural) * A practitioner of magic (illusion) * Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context Entertainment Books * ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...

" (and "

alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...

s", depending upon one's philosophical point of view), who gaze serenely over the room. In 1873, the business moved to its current location in the Place

. In 1884, the business changed to a café and ''liquoriste'', keeping the name. Auguste Boulay bought the business in 1914, when it was on the brink of bankruptcy, for 400,000 francs. The present manager, Catherine Mathivat, is his great-great-granddaughter.

References in literature and popular culture

In literature

* Les Deux Magots appears in ''The Chariot Makers'', by Steve Matchett, in which the author describes Les Deux Magots as: "the first café in the quarter to be blessed by the morning sun. Its clientele pay a healthy premium for drinking there, it’s only fitting they should be the first to catch the warmth of the new day." * The café figures prominently in

Abha Dawesar Abha Dawesar (born 1 January 1974) is an Indian-born novelist writing in English. Her novels include '' Babyji'', ''Family Values'', ''That Summer in Paris'', and ''Miniplanner''. Her 2005 novel '' Babyji'' won the Lambda Literary Award for Le ...

's novel ''That Summer in Paris'' (2006). * The café is the setting for a pivotal scene in the 1998 novel ''The Magic Circle'' by Katherine Neville. The novel was displayed for several months in the windows of Les Deux Magots. * In the 2009 novel ''El hombre que amaba a los perros'' (''

The Man who Loved Dogs ''The Man who Loved Dogs'' is a novel by Leonardo Padura and involves the complex political narratives that surround the assassination of Leon Trotsky by Ramon Mercader. The novel was a finalist for the Book of the Year Award in Spain. It was ...

'') by

Leonardo Padura Leonardo de la Caridad Padura Fuentes (born October 10, 1955) is a Cuban novelist and journalist. , he is one of Cuba's best-known writers internationally. In his native Spanish, as well as in English and some other languages, he is often refe ...

it is one of the places where Trotsky's assassin, Ramon Mercader, spends time while waiting to be sent to Mexico to complete his assignment. * The café features prominently in Marco Missiroli's ''Atti osceni in luogo privato,'' about the early life of "Libero Marsell", whose father will be a patron of the cafè and will befriend writer

before the author's death. * The café is the site of an important event in

China Miéville China Tom Miéville ( ; born 6 September 1972) is a British speculative fiction writer and literary critic. He often describes his work as ''weird fiction'' and is allied to the loosely associated movement of writers called '' New Weird''. Mi ...

's novella ''

The Last Days of New Paris ''The Last Days of New Paris'' () is a 2016 fantasy novella by British writer China Miéville. The book takes place in an alternate history in which surrealist artists join partisans in Paris to fight Nazi groups. The role of surrealism in histor ...

'' (2016). *”

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...

,” chapter 5, part 1. *A Moveable Feast, chapter 8 by Ernest Hemingway.

In graphic novels

* A café with a similar name (Café Deux Magots) is seen in the fictional town of Morioh, Japan in '' Diamond is Unbreakable'', the fourth part of ''

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1987 to 2004, and was transferred to the monthly ''seinen'' manga ...

''.

In art

* 1959 color photograph by

Saul Leiter Saul Leiter (December 3, 1923 – November 26, 2013) was an American photographer and painter whose early work in the 1940s and 1950s was an important contribution to what came to be recognized as the New York school of photography.Jane Livin ...

. * 1967 figurative painting by Jean-François Debord. :fr:Jean-François Debord

In film

* Several scenes in the 1949 movie ''

The Man on the Eiffel Tower ''The Man on the Eiffel Tower'' is a 1950 American Ansco Color film noir mystery film directed by Burgess Meredith and starring Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Meredith, and Robert Hutton. It is based on the 1931 novel '' La Tête d'un homme'' ...

'' take place here. * The café features in the 1959 film '' The Sign of Leo'' by

Eric Rohmer The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

, directed by

Gérard Oury Gérard Oury (born Max-Gérard Houry Tannenbaum; 29 April 1919 – 20 July 2006) was a French film director, actor and writer. Life and career Max-Gérard Houry-Tannenbaum was the only son of Serge Tannenbaum, a violinist of Russian-Jewish orig ...

, in which the fictional Arab revolutionary leader, Mohamed Larbi Slimane (

Claude Giraud Claude Pierre Edmond Giraud (; 5 February 1936 in Chamalières – 3 November 2020) was a French actor. Career Claude Giraud studied with Tania Balachova at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier; Berthe Bovy and Jean Meyer at the École de la rue Bla ...

) is kidnapped, echoing the 1965 kidnapping of

Mehdi Ben Barka use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = ...

in front of nearby

Brasserie Lipp Brasserie Lipp is a brasserie located at 151 Boulevard Saint-Germain in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It sponsors an annual literary prize, the Prix Cazes, named for a previous owner. History On , Léonard Lipp and his wife Pétronille opened ...

. * The café features in the 2011 film ''

The Intouchables ''The Intouchables'' (french: Intouchables, ), also known as ''Untouchable'' in the UK and Ireland, is a 2011 French buddy comedy-drama film written and directed by Olivier Nakache & Éric Toledano. It stars François Cluzet and Omar Sy. Nine w ...

'', in a scene in which Philippe (

François Cluzet François Cluzet (born 21 September 1955) is a French film and theatre actor. Cluzet has collaborated with many important European and American directors, including Claude Chabrol, Bertrand Tavernier, Claire Denis, Agnieszka Holland, Robert Altm ...

) and Driss (

Omar Sy Omar Sy (, ff, 𞤌𞤥𞤢𞤪 𞤅𞤭, Omar Si; born 20 January 1978) is a French actor, best known in France for his sketches with Fred Testot on the '' Service après-vente des émissions'' television show on Canal+ (2005–2012). He gaine ...

) stop there after a wee-hours stroll along the Seine, meant to ease Philippe's suffering in the middle of the night.

In television

* The café features in a scene in the final episode of NBC sitcom ''

The Good Place ''The Good Place'' is an American fantasy comedy television series created by Michael Schur. It premiered on NBC on September 19, 2016, and concluded on January 30, 2020, after four seasons and 53 episodes. Although the plot evolves significa ...

''.

In music

* The café features centrally as the main location of the tale told in the song “A Rose Is A Rose” by singer Poe, with many of the café‘s more famous clientele name-checked in the lyrics, each enraptured with the enigmatic Jezebel.

In podcasts

* Cocoa from Les Deux Magots is featured heavily in '' The Amelia Project''.

Footnotes

External links

Les Deux Magots official site

List of Deux Magots literary prize winners since 1933
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deux Magots, Les Restaurants in Paris Buildings and structures in the 6th arrondissement of Paris Bakery cafés Simone de Beauvoir Coffeehouses and cafés in Paris Restaurants established in 1884 1884 establishments in France