Millions of tourists come to climb every year on Eiffel Tower, and many more are going to visitThe major cemeteries of Paris: Père Lachaise, Montparnasse and Monomartre. Although quite a few people are in the Passy neighborhood adjacent to the Eiffel, and quite a few people like to visit the cemeteries of Paris, somehow almost all tourists, except for “advanced Francophiles,” miss this charming cemetery – and that’s a shame.
You will find here everything that makes cemeteries so interesting: beautiful tombstones, atmosphere and of course the “celebrities” who are buried there. Of course, I will not go through each grave here, but will focus in this article on a few graves that seemed particularly interesting to me, either because of who is buried there or because there was something there that caught my attention.
Passy Cemetery – Useful Information
Before we begin, here are some logistical details that you can't do without.
Address and directions
The address of the Passy Cemetery is 2 Rue du Commandant Schloesing. The easiest way to get there is by metro (lines 6 and 9, get off at Trocadéro station and walk a few minutes to get there).
If you want to arrive by bus, you can do so using lines 22, 30 and 63 (get off at Trocadéro station).
Here is a map of the area, which also includes some hotels, in case you want to stay nearby.
Opening Hours
Monday-Friday: 08:00 to 18:00
Shabbat: 0830 to 18:00
First: 10:00 to 18:00
In winter the place closes at 17:30 PM.
The history of Passy Cemetery
For those who don't know, Passy began as a village located on the western border of Paris The old one. Like any place where people live, there was a need to bury the dead who lived in the vicinity, so a small cemetery was established here, which was active until 1802. In the late 18th century, following the “population explosion” in the cemeteries in central Paris, it was decided to empty them and transfer the bones of the dead to The Catacombs of Paris.
At the same time, it was decided to establish a series of more modern cemeteries outside Paris, the most famous of which was of course Pere LachaiseIn order to serve the population in western Paris, a cemetery was established in Passy in 1802. In 1826 and 1854, the Passy cemetery was expanded to its current size, and in 1860, the village of Passy was annexed to Paris and became part of its 16th arrondissement.
In the following years, more and more people from the upper classes of Paris moved to the 16th arrondissement, making it one of the most prestigious districts of the city (a status it still retains today). Since even wealthy people eventually die, and since most of them wanted to be buried in a cemetery, the Passy cemetery became a very popular cemetery among Paris' high society. France and was nicknamed “the aristocratic necropolis of Paris.”
Today, there are about 2,700 tombs in Passy, and since quite a few wealthy people are buried there, you can find impressive sculpted tombstones and tomb mansions. In the next chapter, we're going to take a look at some of them.
Famous tombs
The tomb of Maria Bashkirtseva
This is undoubtedly the cemetery's most impressive mansion, and since it is located not far from the entrance, it attracts attention.
In her 25 years (Maria lived from 1858 to 1882), Maria had managed to experience and create no less than a person who died in good health. She was born not far from Poltava, now in Ukraine, to a local noble family. Her parents separated and she found herself traveling with her mother on trains throughout Europe, until the two decided to settle in Paris.
Coming from a wealthy family, she received an excellent education, which allowed her to develop her many talents. Initially, she turned to singing, but a lung disease prevented her from continuing in this field. Maria did not let this stop her and Benon, whose inclinations turned to another field: painting.
Maria excelled in this field, and in her short life she painted wonderful paintings, some of which can be found At the Musée d'OrsayHer most famous painting is “The Meeting,” but my favorite painting is actually “The Umbrella,” which you see here.
In parallel with painting, Maria Bashkirtsova turned to writing and at the age of 13 she wrote a diary, which described her life in detail and through which we can learn about the life of the high bourgeoisie and nobility in Europe in the second half of the 19th century. Maria was not only a writer and painter but also a staunch feminist, who wrote in all kinds of newspapers about women's rights.
All of this made Maria Bashkirtseva a famous and beloved figure in the literary salons of Paris and she corresponded with some of the most famous writers of her time, including Guy de Maupassant. However, on October 31, Maria died of tuberculosis and we can only imagine what heights she might have reached had her life not been so cruelly cut short.
Maria Bashkirtseva was buried in Passy, and her family built her a magnificent tomb, in the form of a painter's studio, to remind us all of what a glorious career she had and what a glorious career she could have had.
The tombs of Manet and Bertha Morisot
Speaking of painting, no visit by art lovers to the Passy cemetery would be complete without a visit to the graves of Édouard Manet (1832-1883) and Berthe Morisot (1841-1895).
Manet, along with Claude Monet (1840-1926), are the fathers of the Impressionist school of French painting. While Monet achieved fame in the last decades of his life, Manet was harshly criticized by most art critics during his lifetime and died of syphilis at the age of 51.
Berthe Morisot, a very talented painter in her own right and a good friend of Manet, is also buried in the Passy cemetery. If you would like to read the story of Morisot and Manet’s lives and their art, I highly recommend reading Dr. Orna Lieberman’s article: Edouard Manet and Berthe Morisot: The Passion of Art.
Claude Debussy
Let's stay in the world of art, and go visit the grave of one of the greatest musicians of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, namely Claude Debussy (1862-1918).
Even if you, like me, are not big fans of Debussy's music, you have probably heard some of it in all sorts of films without even knowing it. Here is an example of a melody that will probably sound familiar to many of you.
Whether you like his music or not, one thing is undeniable: he lived an interesting life that included a series of extramarital affairs, a suicide attempt by his wife (after he decided to go on vacation with another woman), and more.
It is no wonder that a man whose mistress and second wife was Emma Bardac (1862-1934) would have an uneasy life and a “messy” death. He died of cancer in March 1918, at the end of World War I. Because the Germans were bombing Paris at the time, it was not possible to hold a proper funeral where the musical and artistic elite could pay their last respects, and he was hastily buried in Père Lachaise.
Only a year later was he reburied in the Passy cemetery, in the same grave as his mother and their daughter Claude-Emma (1909-1919), who died a year after the composer from improper treatment for diphtheria.
Fernandel
After visiting the graves of painters and composers, we will end the artists chapter on this trip at the grave of one of France's greatest actors, the man known as "the French Charlie Chaplin," aka Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin (1903-1971), known to us as Fernandel.
It would be too short to describe Fernandel's long and illustrious career, which began in the 20s in the Vaudeville theaters of France, continued in a long line of films in French (the most iconic are those in which he played Don Camillo, a town priest who fought against a representative of the Communist Party) and reached Hollywood, where he played in a series of films, the most famous being "Around the World in 20 Days," where he played a guest role.
And if all that wasn't enough, Fernandel also became a famous singer in his own right and left us with quite a few classics. Here's one of his songs that I like the most, thanks to the perfect combination of music and comedy (the video has English subtitles so you can understand and laugh with me).
Pahlavi Night
After we've finished visiting the "celebrities," let me take you to the grave of an Iranian princess who lived a short and sad life. I'm referring to Leila Pahlavi (1970-2001).
Leila is the youngest daughter of the last king of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919-1980). At the age of 9, she and her family were forced to flee Iran as a result of the Khomeini coup, and a year later she lost her father to cancer.
Fortunately for her, the Pahlavi family had created a significant fortune, estimated at about a billion dollars (in 1980 values), which allowed her to live a life of wealth and comfort. She seemed to lack for nothing and even began a modeling career, but her mental illness gave her no rest and led to drug addiction, which led to her death at the age of 31.
Henri Aussen
I would like to end this “visit” with the grave of an unknown boy named Henri Houssin (1886-1902), located in the first section of the cemetery. I don’t know what made me look specifically at his family’s grave plot, since they are not particularly famous people, but my curiosity led me inside and there I discovered Henri’s grave.
Inside the tomb, you will find several signs that tell us that the boy attended the Janson de Sailly school, in the 16th arrondissement, and that he died in the town of Cambo-les-Bains, located in southwestern France near the Pyrenees. This is a town where people with lung diseases would come, so it can be assumed that he died there, probably from tuberculosis. His parents' pain is shown to us by a small plaque that says (in a loose translation):
“My God, please protect the health of my parents.” This is what the boy prayed every night in his 16th year. And now, he was mercilessly beaten and cruelly taken from the father and mother who loved him so much.
In my opinion, although it is not the most beautiful grave or the grave of a “celebrity,” it is the grave that touched my heart the most and therefore, in my opinion, it is the most important grave in the Passy cemetery.
Want to read about more famous cemeteries in Paris?
You are welcome to enter the article. The Cemeteries of Paris – If Only the Dead Could Talk And read about other cemeteries in the City of Lights there.
Thank you, Zvi!
As usual – enriching and makes you want to visit
Small correction: The name Pahlavi is pronounced in Persian as Pahlavi, and that "h" is also quite questionable.
What is certain is that there is no reason to add an "H" in the transcription.
Thank you very much. I will fix it.