The Cimetière des Gonards () is the largest

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

on the outskirts 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 ...

. It began operations in 1879. The cemetery covers an area of and contains more than 12,000 graves.

Description

This is a rurally landscaped cemetery, the upper part of which is laid out with walks and planted with trees. The Devos-Logie and Mirand-Devos Chapels were designed by the architect

Hector Guimard Hector Guimard (, 10 March 1867 – 20 May 1942) was a French architect and designer, and a prominent figure of the Art Nouveau style. He achieved early fame with his design for the Castel Beranger, the first Art Nouveau apartment building i ...

in 1894. There is a section for military graves, including 534 German military graves from the two World Wars, marked by a monument and stelae of pink granite, and a war graves section containing the graves of 181 British Commonwealth service personnel of both World Wars.
CWGC Cemetery Report, accessed 6 January 2013. In the highest part is a monument to those French service personnel who are buried in the graveyards of North Africa. The cemetery also contains a Jewish area (sections "L sud" and "L ouest"), and many English and American Protestant burials. The notorious executed murderers Henri Désiré Landru and Eugène Weidmann are buried here, in unmarked graves.Le cimetière des Gonards
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Notable burials

Marc Allégret Marc Allégret (22 December 1900 – 3 November 1973) was a French screenwriter, photographer and film director. Biography Born in Basel, Basel-Stadt, Switzerland, he was the elder brother of Yves Allégret. Marc was educated to be a lawyer in ...

(1900–1973), film director *

Abolhassan Banisadr Abolhassan Banisadr (; 22 March 1933 – 9 October 2021) was an Iranian politician, writer, and political dissident. He was the first president of Iran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution abolished the monarchy, serving from February 1980 until h ...

(1933–2021), first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran * (1864–1955), general *

Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot ( , also , ; 1 July 1872 – 1 August 1936) was a French aviator, inventor, and engineer. He developed the first practical headlamp for cars and established a profitable business manufacturing them, using much of t ...

(1872–1936), pioneer aviator * Princess Éléonore-Justine Bonaparte (1832–1905) * Princess Marie-Félix Bonaparte (1859–1882) * Prince Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte, (1815–1881) *

Prince Roland Bonaparte Roland Napoléon Bonaparte, 6th Prince of Canino and Musignano (19 May 1858 – 14 April 1924) was a French prince and president of the Société de Géographie from 1910 until his death. He was the last male-lineage descendant of Lucien Bonaparte ...

(1858–1924) *

Louise Bryant Louise Bryant (December 5, 1885 – January 6, 1936) was an American feminist, political activist, and journalist best known for her sympathetic coverage of Russia and the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution of November 1917. Born Anna L ...

(1885–1936), American journalist and author *

Louis Cartier Louis Joseph Cartier ( , ; June 6, 1875 – July 23, 1942) was a French businessman, jeweler and heir to the Cartier jewelry house. From 1909, he and his brother Pierre were primarily based in New York City. In 1917, they acquired the Cart ...

(1875–1942), jeweller, watchmaker *

Louis-François Cartier Louis-François Cartier (December 2, 1819 – May 15, 1904) was a French businessman, jeweler and watchmaker. He founded the world renowned jewelry house Cartier in 1847. He was the grandfather of Pierre Cartier, who opened the Cartier Buil ...

(1819–1904), jeweller * (1884–1980), actress *

Gabriel Monod Gabriel Monod (7 March 1844 – 10 April 1912) was a French historian, the nephew of Adolphe Monod. Biography Born in Ingouville, Seine-Maritime, he was educated at Le Havre then went to Paris to complete his education, lodging with the de Pr ...

(1844–1912), historian *

Robert de Montesquiou The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

(1855–1921), poet, and

Gabriel Yturri In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

(1860–1905), his secretary and lover *

Armand Renaud Armand Renaud (29 July 1836–15 October 1895) was a French poet. Life Renaud was born in Versailles. He worked as an official in the Hôtel de Ville, Paris, where for a short time he was a colleague of Léon Valade, and afterwards in th ...

(1836–1895), poet *

Georges Saillard Georges Augustin Eugène Saillard (; 5 July 1877 – 11 September 1967) was a French film actor. He starred in some 52 films between French films of the 1910s, 1909 and French films of 1950, 1950. Saillard was married to actress . He died on 11 ...

(1877–1967), actor *

Edith Wharton Edith Newbold Wharton (; ; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gil ...

(1862–1937), American writer

Gallery

File:Tombe Louise BRUYANT.jpg, Grave of

File:Tombe de MONTESQUIEU.jpg, Grave of poet

File:Versailles Gonards Monument Afrique du Nord.jpg, Monument to the French of North Africa File:Versailles Gonards carré militaire allemand.jpg, German military graves File:Versailles Gonards LA TERRE PROMISE.jpg, Jewish gravestone

References

External links

Le cimetière des Gonards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cimetiere des Gonards Buildings and structures in Yvelines 1879 establishments in France Cemeteries in Île-de-France Tourist attractions in Yvelines Burial sites of the House of Bonaparte Cemeteries established in the 1870s