Engraving commissioned by Soleirol after a pencil portrait of Sophie Chéron presumed to represent Molière in the role of Harpagon -

Wikipedia / Public domain

Should we bring Molière into the Panthéon?

The mayor of Paris announced Thursday that it would make this request in a letter addressed to Emmanuel Macron, who is responsible for any decision on a new pantheonization.

This request, initiated by actor Francis Huster in 2019 in view of the 400th anniversary of the birth of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in January 2022, was taken up by the elected LR Brigitte Kuster, of the group “Changer Paris”, on the third day of the Council of Paris.

Among Zola, Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas

"Paris, the cultural capital and the theater capital, must support this call", said the elected official.

"This request is that of symbolic recognition, of recognition of the timeless character of Molière's theater and of the central place of his work among that of the great men of the French humanities, Zola, Victor Hugo or even Alexandre Dumas" .

"This first entry by an actor into the Pantheon would be a powerful signal to the world of performing arts and culture", strongly affected by the closure of cultural places decided in the context of the fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

One of the most played authors

Recalling that this was a state competence, Anne Hidalgo's deputy in charge of memory, Laurence Patrice, proposed to send a letter to the Head of State, which will also be sent to the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot, "to support this request".

Almost 350 years after his death, Molière (1622-1673) remains one of the most performed authors and his works (

Le Bourgeois gentilhomme

,

Les Précieuses ridicules

,

Les Fourberies de Scapin

,

Le Misanthrope

,

L'Avare, Le Malade imaginaire

…) Continue to hit the mark.

Simone Veil and Maurice Genevoix

Nearly 80 personalities (military, politicians, writers, scientists) rest in the Pantheon, which has been the secular necropolis of the French “Great Men” for over a hundred years and which dominates the Sainte-Geneviève mountain in the 5th arrondissement of Paris.

Since the start of his five-year term, Emmanuel Macron has celebrated the pantheonization of the former deportee and minister Simone Veil - with her husband - in 2018 then that of the writer-fighter Maurice Genevoix and "Those of 14", the title of his masterpiece last November.

Petitions to bring new personalities into the Pantheon are regularly launched.

In January, the Head of State rejected the idea of ​​bringing Arthur Rimbaud into the Pantheon, following the will of the poet's descendants, despite a petition to this effect.

Culture

Macron rejects Rimbaud's entry into the Pantheon, respecting the family's wish

Society

Thesis: Elisabeth Moreno wants to convince Macron to bring Gisèle Halimi to the Pantheon

  • Moliere

  • Emmanuel Macron

  • Culture

  • Theater

  • Pantheon