Le Kremlin-Bicêtre () is a commune in the southern suburbs 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 ...

, France. It is from the center of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. Le Kremlin-Bicêtre is most famous as the location of the Bicêtre Hospital, where Superintendent Philippe Pinel is credited as being the first to introduce humane methods into the treatment of the mentally ill, in 1793. Its most notorious guest was the Marquis de Sade.

Urbanism

Le Kremlin-Bicêtre is an urban commune, as it is one of the dense or intermediate density communes, as defined by the Insee communal density grid. It belongs to the urban unit of

, an inter-departmental conurbation comprising 407 communes and 10,785,092 inhabitants in 2017, of which it is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

an commune. The commune is also part of the functional area of Paris where it is located in the main population and employment centre of the functional area. This area comprises 1,929 communes.

Toponymy

The name has roots both in England and Russia. Le Kremlin-Bicêtre was originally a hamlet called simply Bicêtre and located within the commune of Gentilly. The name Bicêtre comes from the manor built there by John of Pontoise,

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

(England), in the end of the 13th century. The name of this Manor of Winchester was corrupted into ''Vinchestre'', then ''Bichestre'', and eventually Bicêtre. The Bicêtre Hospital was built starting in 1634 on the ruins of the manor. In 1813, the Bicêtre Hospital acted as a major reception point for evacuated casualties of the Grande Armée from the French invasion of Russia. Veterans of the invasion of Russia used to gather in a tavern near Bicêtre Hospital. This tavern was soon renamed ' ("At the Kremlin sergeant") in reference to the Moscow Kremlin where the veterans had camped. Gradually the name Kremlin was used for the whole neighborhood around the Bicêtre Hospital, and appeared for the first time officially in an ordnance map of 1832. Later the names Kremlin and Bicêtre were joined together and became the official name of the area.

History

The commune of Le Kremlin-Bicêtre was created on 13 December 1896 by detaching its territory from the commune of Gentilly.

Population

Transport

Le Kremlin-Bicêtre is served by Le Kremlin-Bicêtre station on Paris Métro Line 7, and Hôpital Bicêtre station on Paris Métro Line 14.

Education

Public primary and secondary schools:Les écoles maternelles et élémentaires
" Le Kremlin-Bicêtre. Retrieved on September 6, 2016. * Five preschools: Benoît-Malon, Jean-Zay, Pauline-Kergomard, Robert-Desnos, Suzanne-Buisson * Five elementary schools: Benoît-Malon A, Benoît-Malon B, Charles-Péguy, Pierre-Brossolette Secondary schools: *Public junior high schools: Collège Jean-Perrin and Collège Albert-CronLes collèges
" Le Kremlin-Bicêtre. Retrieved on September 6, 2016. *Public senior high schools: Lycée intercommunal Darius-Milhaud and Lycée Pierre-Brossolette There is one private elementary and junior high, Jeanne-d'Arc. Le Kremlin-Bicêtre also has the computer science schools EPITA and EPITECH.Enseignement supérieur
" Le Kremlin-Bicêtre. Retrieved on September 6, 2016. The computer programming school Coding Academy, IONIS School of Technology and Management, the Web@cademie and the school E-Artsup are also located in the commune.

Notable residents

Roger Caillois Roger Caillois (; 3 March 1913 – 21 December 1978) was a French intellectual and prolific writer whose original work brought together literary criticism, sociology, poetry, ludology and philosophy by focusing on very diverse subjects such as ...

(1913–1978), writer, sociologist, and literary critic. * Suzanne Flon (1918–2005), actress and comedian, born at Kremlin-Bicêtre. * Kamelancien (aka Kamelanc'), rap artist of Moroccan origin, who debuted in 1993. * (Émile Charles Jean Aldéric Lavialle) was an actor, who died 16 October 1965 in this town. * Lazare Ponticelli, the last surviving French and Italian veteran of World War I, Resistance member and industrialist, died here in 2008. * , seven-time French

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

champion and creator of the Secrétin-Purkart Show, a humorous look at the sport broadcast on television. * Jean-François Revel, intellectual, lived in this town during the latter part of his life, and he died here in April 2006.

Gallery

File:Kremlin-bicetre-france-mairie-03.jpg, Townhall File:Kremlin-bicetre-france-conservatoire-01.jpg, Music School & cultural center " André Malraux"

Notes

References

External links

*
Kremlin-Bicêtre official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kremlinbicetre Communes of Val-de-Marne