Gif-sur-Yvette (, literally ''Gif on

Yvette Yvette is female given name, the French feminine form of Yves, which means yew or archer in some cases. Name days *Czech Republic: ''7 June'' *Hungary: ''13 January'', ''6 May'' and ''29 June'' *Poland: ''13 January'' *Slovakia: ''27 May'' ...

'') is a commune in south-western Ile de France,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is located from the center of Paris.

Geography

The town is crossed by and named after the river

. The total area is and is green spaces and woods.

Place names

The town of Gif-sur-Yvette is composed of sections: * in the valley: The Rougemonts, The Mérantaise, The Mairie, The Féverie, Coupières, Damiette, Courcelle, l'Abbaye, les Coudraies; * on the Moulon Plateau: The Moulon (uninhabited, aside from a research and educational institute); * on the Hurepoix Plateau: The Hacquinière, Belleville (created before the war) and Chevry (created in the 1970s, and equipped with infrastructure). Also, the commune's territory includes many forests such as the Hacquinière Wood and the d'Aigrefoin Wood.

Commune's neighbors

The neighboring communes of Gif-sur-Yvette are

Villiers-le-Bâcle Villiers-le-Bâcle () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Inhabitants of Villiers-le-Bâcle are known as ''Villebaclais''. The painter Tsugouharu Foujita is buried in the commune's cemetery. See also * ...

, Saint-Aubin, Saclay,

Orsay Orsay () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. A fortified location of the Chevreuse valley since the 8th centur ...

, Bures-sur-Yvette,

Gometz-le-Châtel Gometz-le-Châtel () is a commune in the Essonne department of France. It is a southern suburb of Paris, 25 km from the center of Paris. Geography This village is near Les Ulis, Bures-sur-Yvette, Gif-sur-Yvette and Gometz-la-Ville, al ...

, Gometz-la-Ville, and Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse.

History

The human presence on the Moulon Plateau originates in Neolithic times. Agriculture was developed, notably during the Roman era. Between the 12th and the 18th century, an important Benedictine abbey was built in Gif. In the 19th century, Gif remained very agricultural (in particular, operating mills). In 1867, Gif was linked to the path of the Sceaux train (which later became the south branch of the

RER B RER B is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris, France and its Île-de-France suburbs. The RER B line crosses the region from no ...

). After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the Gif commune experienced an important demographic change. The town took the name ''Gif-sur-Yvette'' in 1930. Just after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Gif-sur-Yvette acquired an international scientific reputation, with the construction of the

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,63 ...

and of the CEA. The

French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission or CEA ( French: Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives), is a French public government-funded research organisation in the areas of energy, defense and securit ...

discovered

radioactive contamination Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirab ...

in a private home in 1974. The home had been built upon a site where needles containing

radon Radon is a chemical element with the symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colourless, odourless, tasteless noble gas. It occurs naturally in minute quantities as an intermediate step in the normal radioactive decay chains th ...

gas were once manufactured, starting in 1915. The needles were used to sterilize infected tissue—an idea developed by

Marie Curie Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the fir ...

. The town was extended in 1975, with the creation of the Chevry section, from areas ceded by the Gometz-la-Ville and

communes.

Main sights

The Saint-Rémi Church, a structure of Romanesque and

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...

, was constructed in the 12th century and remained until the 15th century. It was registered as a historic monument in 1938. Some ruins remain of a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The c ...

which was built in the 12th century and became a national property in 1789. It was officially registered in 1963.

Population

Inhabitants of Gif-sur-Yvette are known as ''Giffois''.

Economy

Gif-sur-Yvette is situated in the "Science Valley" of the Yvette River. Numerous research organizations exist in this area, such as the

(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), the CEA (Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique), Supélec (École Supérieure d'Électricité), the LGEP (Laboratoire de Génie Électrique de Paris, associated with Supélec), SOLEIL Synchrotron (Source Optimisée de Lumière d'Energie Intermediaire du LURE) and the Institute of Plant Biotechnology. Also, Gif is home to the Centre National d'Études and of the National Police Academy. The CGT operates, since 1950, a ''permanent central college'' of Gif-sur-Yvette, the Benoît Frachon Center, situated along the Yvette River.

Transport

Gif-sur-Yvette is served by two stations on Paris RER line B: Gif-sur-Yvette and Courcelle-sur-Yvette. Like all the train stations on this line, one train goes towards/past Paris ( Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 2 TGV or Mitry-Claye) and the other goes towards the other end of the line : Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse. The trains arrive generally at 15-minute intervals.

People

* Louis Sédilot (1599-1672), early Quebec colonist * Juliette Adam (1836–1936), founder of the Nouvelle Revue (1879) and operator of a famous literary club during the Third Republic. * The

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

and

Duchess of Windsor Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...

's former country home, ''Le Moulin de la Tuilerie'', a sprawling dwelling created from an old mill and a number of barns, is located on the outskirts of town. The couple bought the buildings in 1952 from the artist Drian and were weekend residents for some 20 years. It was the only home they owned together. It has been restored as three individual holiday homes which are available to rent through the

Landmark Trust The Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then makes them available for holiday rental. The Trust's headqua ...

and Owners Direct in the UK. Among the Windsors' famous guests at the house were

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

and

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the t ...

and

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

. * The artist

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as " tubism") which he gradually modified into a more figurative, p ...

died on 17 August 1955 in the house where, in 1972, negotiations were held between

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

and Le Duc Tho which led to the end of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. * The actor Richard Bohringer lives in the town. His daughter, actress

Romane Bohringer Romane Bohringer (; born 14 August 1973) is a French actress, film director, screenwriter, and costume designer. She is the daughter of Richard Bohringer and sister of Lou Bohringer. Her parents named her after Roman Polanski. She won the C� ...

pursued her university studies here. * The actress and super-model Noémie Lenoir is from Gif-sur-Yvette, in the l'Abbaye section. * Well-known British chemists who have been working at the

Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles The Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles ("Institute for the chemistry of natural substances"), or ICSN, is part of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, France's most prominent public research organization. Located at Gif-su ...

at Gif include: Derek Barton,

Hugh Felkin Hugh Felkin (1922–2001) was a research chemist in France from 1950 to 1990 and a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry. In 1967, he proposed a model to predict the stereochemical outcome of the addition of nucleophiles to carbonylic compo ...

, Bob Crabtree and Steve Davies. * The famous astrophysicist Hubert Reeves lived in La Hacquinière.

Twin towns

* Olpe, Germany, since 2001