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 The Bicêtre Hospital is located in Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It lies 4.5 km (2.8 miles) from the center of Paris. The Bicêtre Hospital was originally planned as a military hospital, with constru ...

, where Superintendent

Philippe Pinel Philippe Pinel (; 20 April 1745 – 25 October 1826) was a French physician, precursor of psychiatry and incidentally a zoologist. He was instrumental in the development of a more humane psychological approach to the custody and care of ps ...

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 Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade ( ; ; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814) was a French writer, libertine, political activist and nobleman best known for his libertine novels and imprisonment for sex crimes, blasphemy and pornography ...

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 In France, an urban unit () is a statistical area defined by INSEE, the French national statistics office, for the measurement of contiguously built-up areas. According to the INSEE definition , an "unité urbaine" is a commune alone or a grou ...

, 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 John of Pontoise (; 1303 Treaty of Paris. died 1304) was a medieval Bishop of Winchester in the Kingdom of England, serving from 1282 to 1304. Life John of Pontoise was from Pontoise in Seine-et-Oise in France, but spent much of his life in E ...

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

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 The (; ) was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army (1804–1815), French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empi ...

from the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign (), the Second Polish War, and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (), was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the Continenta ...

. 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 The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall along with the K ...

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

station on

Paris Métro Line 7 Paris Métro Line 7 is one of sixteen lines of the Paris Métro system. Crossing the capital from its north-eastern to south-eastern sections via a moderately curved path, it links in the north with and in the south, while passing through im ...

, and Hôpital Bicêtre station on

Paris Métro Line 14 Paris Métro Line 14 (French: ''Ligne 14 du métro de Paris'') is one of the sixteen lines on the Paris Métro. It connects and Aéroport d'Orly (Paris Métro), Aéroport d'Orly on a north-west south-east diagonal via the three major station ...

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 In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

and

Lycée Pierre-Brossolette In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

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 IONIS School of Technology and Management (IONIS STM) is a French private graduate school, part of the IONIS Education Group. The school offers instruction in information technology, computer science, energy, biotechnology and management. It w ...

, the

Web@cademie Web@cademie is a private, nonprofit and tuition-free computer programming school created and funded by French IONIS Education Group with several partners including Epitech and Zup de Co association. The school was first opened in Paris in 2010. ...

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 Suzanne Flon (28 January 1918 – 15 June 2005) was a French people, French stage, film, and television actress. She won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for her performance in the 1961 film ''Tu ne tueras point, Thou Shalt Not Kill''. Flon also re ...

(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 Lazare Ponticelli (born Lazzaro Ponticelli; 24 December 1897, later mistranscribed as 7 December – 12 March 2008), Knight of Vittorio Veneto, was at 110, the last surviving officially recognized veteran of the First World War from France an ...

, the last surviving

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

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 Jean-François Revel (born Jean-François Ricard; 19 January 192430 April 2006) was a French philosopher, journalist, and author. A prominent public intellectual, Revel was a socialist in his youth but later became a prominent European propon ...

, 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 Georges André Malraux ( ; ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (''Man's Fate'') (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed ...

Notes

References

External links

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