Montparnasse Cemetery – the resting place of intellectuals and artists

Montparnasse Cemetery is considered the cemetery of writers and intellectuals of ParisIs this because more intellectuals are buried there than in any other Parisian cemetery? In my opinion, the answer to this is “no” because there are quite a few famous intellectuals buried in other cemeteries in Paris, such as thePere Lachaise , theMontmartre And of course thePantheon (Oscar Wilde buried in Père Lachaise, Hugo Zola buried in the Pantheon and the list goes on).

In my opinion, this cemetery will forever be associated with intellectuals and bohemians not because of the dead, but rather because of the living. The reason for this is that Montparnasse Cemetery is located near the mythical cafes (La Dom, La Coppola, and more) where bohemians used to hang out. Therefore, when it was time for them to go, most of them probably preferred to be buried near the cafes where they spent quite a few pleasant hours.

Also, if you were a Bohemian and chose to be buried in Montparnasse, you would also have done your living friends a great favor. After all, if you were buried there, they would be able, immediately after the funeral, to pop in and have a drink in your memory at one of your favorite cafes. In short, a winning location for both the living and the dead!

So today we will visit the Montparnasse Cemetery and meet quite a few of those writers, artists, and bohemians who rest their last rest there. We will hear the stories of some of the most famous people buried there and along the way we will also discover some of the most beautiful tombstones you can find in Paris.

A little logistics before we start.

The Montparnasse cemetery is on a sort of hill. True, the slope is not as steep as that of Père Lachaise, and it is certainly possible to do a tour where you climb from the bottom to the top. However, since some readers of the site would prefer to replace such a sporting activity with a more leisurely walk, I decided to provide you with a route where we go down the hill.

To do this, take the lineMetro Number 13 and get to Gaité station. From there, continue to Rue Froidevaux, where the entrance gate to the cemetery is located. However, if you listen to me, I would advise you to wait a little and not enter the cemetery directly. Instead, I recommend you go to the nearby Rue Daguerre.

After you finish strolling along this charming street, you are welcome to return to Froidevaux Street and enter through the gate of the same name. Our tour begins there!

Opening days and hours

You will be happy to know that the cemetery is open every day until 18:00 p.m. It usually opens at 08:00 a.m., but on Saturday it opens at 08:30 a.m. and on Sunday it opens at 09:00 a.m. If you would like more practical information about the Montparnasse Cemetery,  You are welcome to enter this link..

One more little tip before we start

Go to one of the flower shops scattered around the area and buy yourself a map of the cemetery. I wanted to provide you with a Google map with all the interesting graves, as I did in the article about Pere LachaiseHowever, unfortunately, a large part of the graves that will appear on our route do not appear there and it is very difficult for me to locate them accurately on the Google map.

On the other hand, using the paper map, you can easily find the various graves and, along the way, see additional graves that were not included in the route and that may interest you.

Montparnasse Cemetery – Walking Tour

Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867)

From the Froidevaux Gate, take a left and walk down until you reach the tomb of the famous poet Charles Baudelaire. Although the poet died more than 150 years ago, this tomb is still a pilgrimage site for lovers of literature and poetry.

Baudelaire died at the age of 46 from a venereal disease combined with alcoholism, a combination that in turn caused a stroke from which he never recovered. He is buried in a family tomb with his mother and his adoptive father, General Jacques Aupick, whom he hated all his life, because the latter tried to reform him and make him a “normal” person. Note that at the other end of the Montparnasse cemetery there is a statue of Baudelaire that is also worth a visit.

If you would like to read more about Baudelaire, you are welcome to take a look at the following articles:

• Bipolarity in the Soul and Poems of Charles Baudelaire – An excellent article by Dr. Orna Lieberman on Baudelaire’s poetry.
• Hotel de Lauzun – and don't drink hashish there! – An article about the Hôtel de Lausanne on the Île Saint-Louis where Baudelaire founded the Hashish Club.
• French poetry translated into Hebrew – Here you will find four of Baudelaire's poems translated into Hebrew.

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) and Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)

Jean-Paul Sartre and his partner Simone de Beauvoir lived in Paris for many years and became the most famous philosophers of the 20th century. So it is not surprising that their common grave is a place of pilgrimage to this day.

The existentialist Sartre coined the misanthropes’ “battle slogan” “Hell is the other” (from his play “Behind Closed Doors”). However, that didn’t stop more than 50,000 people from accompanying him on his final journey in 1980.

Simone de Beauvoir was a very important writer and philosopher in her own right. But she is best known for her groundbreaking feminist books, such as The Second Sex. Her reputation as a writer and philosopher only grew after her death, and her grave became a pilgrimage site for feminists wishing to honor her memory.

If you would like to read a little more about Sartre and Beauvoir and get to know the Paris where they lived and created, I highly recommend reading the article  Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir: A trip to Paris in the footsteps of two philosophers.

Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957)

Constantin Brancusi’s tomb may seem a bit boring, but it is definitely worth paying homage to this statue, which is responsible for one of the most unique tombstones in the Montparnasse Cemetery, aka “The Kiss.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a picture of the tombstone, but I brought you a picture of an identical statue displayed in the museum.

If you would like to delve a little deeper into the story of this interesting tombstone, you can read about it in Ronit Gruman's article. Signed with a Kiss – A Tour Following Famous Kisses in Paris.

And if you want to see what Brancusi's own tombstone looks like, you'll be disappointed to find that it's pretty standard...

Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804-1869)

Saint-Bab was one of the most important literary critics of France of the 19th century and as such he was awarded a handsome tomb. If this fact does not make his personality particularly interesting, then perhaps the knowledge that he was awarded love gifts with the wife of Victor Hugo Would you do this? But before you start getting angry at the woman who cheated on her husband, you are invited to read the article about The letters that Victor Hugo wrote to his mistress And to discover that he wasn't an innocent lamb either...

Charles Pigeon (1838-1915)

Very few have ever heard of Charles Pidgeon despite his contributions to science (inventing the Pidgeon lamp), which made him a very wealthy man (it was the first lamp that didn't explode when you lit it and this feature made it a crowd favorite).

When you reach his grave, you will conclude that Charles Pidgeon probably invested the money he earned in his own tombstone and that of his family. Pidgeon commissioned the tombstone back in 1905, and even then he wanted to sculpt him and his wife lying in bed. Yes, Charles Pidgeon decided to invite the whole world to take a peek into his and his wife's bedroom!

In my opinion, this is the most beautiful and impressive tomb in Paris and if you must see one and only tombstone in the entire City of Lights, then it is. Go to ward 22 in Montparnasse Cemetery, this is the place to visit.

Few know that he sculpted several other famous statues and was even responsible for the tombstone of Gustave Jundt (1830-1884), who is also buried in Montparnasse Cemetery.

Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935)

In ward 28, where the grave of Auguste Bartholdi is located, is also the grave of Alfred Dreyfus, the Jewish officer who was accused of treason and sent, through no fault of his own, to Devil's Island.

His trial and the fight for his innocence still constitute a fault line that divides French society, and very soon an extensive article on the subject will appear on the website, in which you can read about both his life and his trial.

Samuel Beckett (1906-1989)

So far we've visited the graves of writers, philosophers, and sculptors. Now it's time to visit the grave of one of the most brilliant playwrights of the 20th century, Samuel Beckett.

Beckett became known to the general public for the Theater of the Absurd that he created together with other Dadaist artists such as Eugène Ionesco, who is also buried here. His most famous play is “Waiting for Godot” and quite a few fans go to his grave every year to pay their respects. Few of those fans know that in the 30s Samuel Beckett was stabbed by a Parisian pimp while walking down the street. After recovering, he went to look for the pimp and simply fell in love with his sense of humor and his sociable personality. Beckett fell in love with him so much that he decided not to file a police report against him.

Another unexpected result of that incident was his friendship with James Joyce, the author of Ulysses. They became such good friends while Beckett was recovering at home from the stabbing that James Joyce even paid Beckett’s medical expenses. Joyce, who was fond of Beckett, introduced him to his daughter, thus planting the seeds of disaster that would kill their friendship. This happened several years after Samuel Beckett decided to separate from his daughter…

Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991)

While Charles Baudelaire was the “bad, drugged boy” of the 19th century, Serge Gainsbourg (or as the French pronounce his name: Gainsbourg), undoubtedly filled the same role in the 20th century and with great talent.

Indeed, he had no shortage of talent. As a singer, actor, director, and an important and original composer, he was responsible for some of French pop's biggest hits, such as Je t'aime, moi non plus.

Despite taking drugs and drinking incredible amounts of alcohol his entire life, Serge Ginzburg miraculously managed to live to the age of 62. When he died, quite a few French people came to see him off, causing huge traffic jams that brought Paris to a complete standstill. When you reach his grave, you will find bottles of alcohol, cigarette ashes and, of course, metro tickets in memory of his immortal poem Le poinçonneur des Lilas.

If you would like to read more about Serge Gainsbourg, I recommend the following articles:

• The love story of Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot by Gil Kesari
• Serge Ginzburg: A Musical Journey and a Parisian Trip

The separation of a couple

We have reached the last stop on our trip, but instead of a tombstone, I brought you to see a statue. And not just any statue, but one of the most moving statues you will ever see.

It all started when they commissioned a sculpture from sculptor Alix Marquet (1875-1939) forLuxembourg Gardens. Marke decided, for some reason, to sculpt a widower weeping over his wife's grave. The wife, who is apparently already on her way to the afterlife, sends her husband a final kiss, but he doesn't even see her.

The management of the Luxembourg Gardens decided that the statue was too tragic for such a garden and therefore moved it to the Montparnasse Cemetery, where it has been since 1911. There is no doubt that such a tragic statue is a fitting end to a tour of a cemetery, and I hope you enjoyed it and didn't leave the place too sad.

Other famous people buried in Montparnasse Cemetery

Of course, it is not possible to cover all the important tombs in one tour. Therefore, for the benefit of those who wish to do their “homework” before the trip to the cemetery, here are other historical figures who are buried in Montparnasse and about whom there is an article here on the site:

• Chaim Soutine
• Mireille Darc
• Marguerite Duras
• François Rode, who is responsible for the reliefs and sculptures of Arc de Triomphe.
• Jean Chirac
• Jean-Paul Belmondo

If you would like to get the complete list of all the “celebrities” buried in Montparnasse Cemetery, You can find it here.

Want to visit more cemeteries in Paris?

If this tour has “whet your appetite” and you want to visit more cemeteries in Paris, you are welcome to read the article. The Cemeteries of Paris If only the graves could talk…

Other articles about Montparnasse that may interest you

• If all the stories in this article weren't enough for you, you are invited to read Dr. Orna Lieberman's chilling article about theNecrophile of Montparnasse.
• If you're a little tired of death and want to walk through Montparnasse in the footsteps of (former) life, I recommend this article. Montparnasse – A walking tour following the bohemian side of Paris.