Ville-d'Avray () is a commune in the western 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 located from the centre of Paris. The commune is part of the

arrondissement of Boulogne-Billancourt The arrondissement of Boulogne-Billancourt is an Arrondissements of France, arrondissement of France in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region. It has 8 Communes of France, communes. It ...

in the

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the Île-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...

department.

Demographics

Transport

Ville-d'Avray contains a suburban rail line station called Sèvres – Ville d'Avray station on the

Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare is one of the sectors in the Paris Transilien suburban rail network. The trains on this sector depart from Gare Saint-Lazare in central Paris and serve the north and north-west of Île-de-France region with Transilien ...

suburban rail line. This station is an 800-meter walk from the residential area of Ville-d'Avray.

Personalities

Augustin-Jean Fresnel Augustin-Jean Fresnel (10 May 1788 – 14 July 1827) was a French civil engineer and physicist whose research in optics led to the almost unanimous acceptance of the wave theory of light, excluding any remnant of Isaac Newton, Newton's c ...

(1788–1827), the civil engineer and physicist whose research in optics led to the almost unanimous acceptance of the wave theory of light, died in Ville-d'Avray at the age of 39.

Jean Rostand Jean Edmond Cyrus Rostand (30 October 1894 – 4 September 1977) was a French biologist, historian of science, and philosopher. Active as an experimental biologist, Rostand became famous for his work as a science writer, as well as a philosopher ...

was a French experimental biologist and philosopher who lived in Ville-d'Avray. He became famous for his work as a science writer, as well as a philosopher and an activist. His scientific work covered a variety of biological fields such as amphibian embryology, parthenogenesis and teratogeny, while his literary output extended into popular science, history of science and philosophy. His work in the area of cryogenics gave the idea of cryonics to Robert Ettinger. The famous beauty and Scottish courtesan Grace Elliott died in Ville-d'Avray in May 1823. Landscape painter

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot ( , , ; 16 July 1796 – 22 February 1875), or simply Camille Corot, was a French Landscape art, landscape and Portraitist, portrait painter as well as a printmaking, printmaker in etching. A pivotal figure in ...

maintained a residence in the village and used the area as a subject for several paintings including '' Ville-d'Avray'' in 1867. Actress

Isabelle Huppert Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Known for her portrayals of cold, austere women devoid of morality, she is considered one of the greatest actresses of her generation. With 16 nominations and two win ...

spent her childhood in Ville-d'Avray. French author and musician

Boris Vian Boris Vian (; 10 March 1920 – 23 June 1959) was a French polymath who is primarily remembered for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan were bizarre parodies of criminal fiction, highly controversial at the time of th ...

was born in the town in 1920. Literary historian and critic, essayist, novelist and poet, member of the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and the Académie de Saintonge, Pierre-Henri Simon lived in Ville d'Avray and is buried there. Famous 19th century courtesan Valtesse de La Bigne had a second home here which was next door to the home of famous French politician

Léon Gambetta Léon Gambetta (; 2 April 1838 – 31 December 1882) was a French lawyer and republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government. Early life and education Born in Cahors, ...

Popularity on Google Earth

The village is the location of a former technical school focused on the aerospace sector, though now associated with the University of Paris. To celebrate their ongoing commitment to

aeronautical engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

, a scale model of a

Dassault Mirage 2000 The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine, delta wing, fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter to replace the Mirage III for the French Air ...

fighter jet is set out in the courtyard. Discovery of the model by users of

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

in the mid-2000s caused a minor stir on the Internet, and the "jet in a residential parking lot" is consistently featured on lists of satellite imagery curiosities.

Education

Primary schools in the commune: * Groupe scolaire Jean Rostand * Groupe scolaire La Ronce * Maternelle Halphen (preschool) Collège La Fontaine du Roy is within the commune. It is served by the public high school Lycée Jean Pierre Vernant in

Sèvres Sèvres (, ) is a French Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a populatio ...

.Home page
Lycée Jean Pierre Vernant. Retrieved on September 7, 2016. ..ui relèvent de la zone de desserte du lycée ( communes de Sèvres, Ville d’Avray, Chaville, Saint -Cloud) ../ref>

References

External links

Ville-d'Avray town council website
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Villedavray Communes of Hauts-de-Seine