A Short History of the Rue De La Roquette, Paris 11Ème

A Brief History of the Rue de la Roquette, Paris 11ème Author's Note While I have tried to be as accurate as possible, there is contradictory data concerning the names and dates associated with rue de la Roquette. Your comments, suggestions and correc- tions are welcomed. Please feel free to share this essay. Larry Shields, May 26, 2008 (revised April 2011) Introduction The rue de la Roquette first made its appearance on maps of the Paris region around 1672. On one of the earliest maps, the street was identified as the road that linked La Porte Saint-Antoine to the Roquette Convent (now the location of the rue Auguste Lau- rent). Today the rue de la Roquette, located in the heart of the 11th arrondissement on Paris' right bank, links the Place de la Bastille to the Père-Lachaise Cemetery. The origin of the name 'Roquette' is the subject of some debate. Some believe that the name comes from a small flower (eruca sativa, family brassicaceae) with pale yellow or whitish flowers, purple or brown veins, and leaves resembling those of radishes. Others believe the name comes from the word 'roc' ('rocher', English: 'rock'), while still others believe that it comes from the name of the country house ('Petite Roche', 'Rochette' or 'Roquette') of the Valois -- a branch of the Capétiens. Early History In the 15thcentury the eastern edge of Paris was for the most part a few shacks in the midst of swamps fed by streams that descended from the Menilmontant or Champs-l'E- vêque Hills – today home to the Père-Lachaise Cemetery. It was during the reign of Henri II that the first major residences were constructed in the area of the rue de la Roquette. Among the first inhabitants of the area were ●! Germain Teste (1545) – the tax collector of Paris ●! Nicolas Séguier – the King's secretary ●! Florimont Robertet, Baron of Bury – the secretary of state under François II ●! Rocquet de la Tribouille (whose name is said to have has no connection with the name of the street) ●! Philippe Hurault de Cheverny, Count of Cheverny who was Henri III's Garde des Sceaux in 1578 -- he had a residence in what was called the Domain de la Ro- quette. ●! Henri II (1519-1559) and Henri IV (1553 -1610) are said to have had vacation houses (maison de plaisance or folies – as they were called in the 18th and 19th century) in the area. In 1599 Philippe Hurault's property was sold to the Duchesse Mercoeur (Françoise de Lorraine) who had two houses constructed. Later she had them transformed into a small monastery near what is today rue Pache, just off Place Léon Blum. In 1611 Thomas Mo- rant, Baron of Mesnil-Garnier (the King's treasurer from 1617), acquired the property and then resold it in 1636 to the Hospitalières de la Charité Notre-Dame of the order of Saint Augustine. In 1639 the group used the property to create what became a retreat for women suffering from real or imagined ills. In 1690 the nuns, then numbering around eighty, separated from Hospitalières and became the les filles de Saint-Joseph. The land occupied by the nuns consisted of several buildings surrounded by cultivated gar- dens, vines, an orangery, and a small cemetery (located on what is today the corner of the rue de la Roquette and the rue Léon Frot). In 1772, after the latest in a series of fires at the Hôtel-Dieu (hospital), plans were drawn up to transform the buildings belonging to the convent into a hospital that would serve the surrounding area. However, the Revolution intervened and in An III (1794-5) the property became home to a cotton mill and the nuns were forced to leave. Eventually the Hospices administration took over the area. In 1818 the street was extended to its present-day endpoint at the Père-Lachaise Cemetery. Passage du Cheval-Blanc In the XVII century a lumber warehouse was created at the Passage du Cheval-Blanc which etends from 2, rue de la Roquette to 21, rue du Faubourg de Saint-Antoine, just off the Place de la Bastille. The Passage was also home to workshops and stores. Du- ring the 19th century this very rebellious area employed this and other passages as key parts of the system of barricades. Today it is a historical landmark. The courtyards off the passage still bear the names of the months of the year with which they were origi- nally designated. Current occupants include the Atelier Bordas (www.atelierbordas.com) a well-known lithographer, publisher and printer of photographic and non-photographic art. Later History and 'Faits Divers' In 1860 the city hall of the 11th arrondissement was established at 65, rue de la Ro- quette and then in 1865 it moved to it’s current location on the Place Voltaire (where the rue de la Roquette intersects a number of streets). The city hall was decorated with sculptures by the artist Henri-Charles Maniglier. In 1957 the Place Voltaire was renamed Place Léon Blum1. During the Paris Commune (1871) the city hall of the 11th was brie- fly became the home of the Paris Council following a fire at the Paris City Hall. It was also the site of the final meeting of the Comité central de Salut Public de la Commune on May 25, 1871. The Paris Commune came to an end on May 27, 1871. All that remained of the Com- mune was the area bounded by the rue du Faubourg du Temple, rue de la Folie-Méri- court, rue de la Roquette and several nearby boulevards. It was on that day several hundred Communards were summarily shot in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery, near the Roquette prisons (see below) and on the Place Voltaire (today officially called Place Léon Blum). It is fitting that in this 140th anniversary (2011) year that the Mairie du 11e is hosting exhibitions, debates and other events to mark the event. The poet Paul Verlaine lived at 17, rue de la Roquette from 1882 to 1883. In 1883 he published the first series of works by « poètes maudits » -- Mallarmé, Corbière and Rimbaud-- in the journal « Lutèce ». From 1892 until her death in 1914 Hubertine Auclerc, feminist and founder of the Socie- ty for Women's Rights (1876), lived at 151 rue de la Roquette. She also became an anti- clerical militant as a result of her earlier life in a convent -- she had planned on beco- ming a nun. In 1881 she launched the newspaper the « Citoyenne » to support feminist causes. In 1884 she opposed the newly enacted divorce law and proposed the radical alternative of a marriage contract between spouses with a division of possessions. She and Margareitte Durand ran as candidates in the 1910 legislative elections in defiance of the government. She is buried in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery. From 1898 to 1901 Alain Fournier, author of the « Grands Meaulnes », lived in a building at 196 rue de la Roquette while attending the Lycée Voltaire. The original building no longer exists. During the 18thand 19th century the street was home to the manufacture of faience, re- ligious candles, wallpaper, and porcelain. Early in the 20thcentury, Léon Daudet, son of Alphonse Daudet, in his book « Paris Vé- cu », described the rue de la Roquette as the « sorrowful way » because so many funeral corteges took that route to the Père-Lachaise Cemetery. Léon Daudet himself had, in 1897, accompanied his father's body in a large funeral cortege that ascended the rue de la Roquette to Pere-Lachaise. That cortege was notable for counting among its partici- pants the contradictory figures of Emile Zola and Edmond Drumont (author of the 1896 very popular, at the time, two volume anti-semitic work: « La France Juive »). Other famous funeral corteges that have ascended the rue de la Roquette to Père-La- chaise include that of Auguste Blanqui (1881, anarchist and participant in almost every popular uprising in France during his life-time), Eugène Pottier (1887, author of the « In- ternationale »), Pierre Goldman2 (1979), and Achille Zavatta3 (1993). The Occupation On August 20 and 21, 1940 the Nazis, with the support of the Vichy government, roun- ded up the Jewish men, women and children of 11th arrondissement for transportation to concentration camps4. Doctor Outel Bono On August 26, 1973 at 9:30 in the morning, Doctor Outel Bono was murdered while get- ting into his car on the rue de la Roquette. The assassin shot him twice before fleeing by car. Doctor Bono, a medical doctor and Chadian opposition leader, had been plan- ning to announce a new opposition party. His wife tried, unsuccessfully, to have the suspected assassin brought to justice. The French courts refused to accept that Doctor Bono was assassinated, preferring to believe that his death was just a crime of passion. Officially the case remains unsolved. Curiously, immediately following Doctor Bono's death, his briefcase vanished and his apartment was by searched by person or persons unknown. From time to time, most recently in 2006, a memorial rally is held in front of 80, rue de la Roquette where Doctor Bono was murdered. A video of the 2006 rally can be found at www.dailymotion.com/video/xs5ah_tchad-rue-outel-bono_events. The Fountain In the spring of 2008 work was begun to restore the fountain at 70, rue de la Roquette. The fountain was designed in 1846 by the architect Auguste Molinos. It is part of a group of public fountains commissioned by the Préfet of the Seine Claude-Philibert Bar- thelot de Rambuteau to improve the daily life of Parisians.

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