Did you know that the Monument à Victor Schoelcher in Père Lachaise Cemetery is not where Victor Schoelcher actually rests? It is a cenotaph a monument honoring someone whose remains are elsewhere. Let’s delve into the story of this monument and the man it commemorates.
The Monument à Victor Schoelcher is located in the 50th division of Père Lachaise Cemetery. It stands along the Avenue Saint-Morys. This monument is adorned with a bronze medallion and a haut-relief a high relief sculpture. The haut-relief was originally installed in 1841 on the grave of Marc Schoelcher. Marc was Victor’s father and a porcelain maker. The relief depicts two allegorical figures leaning on a cartouche. The cartouche bears Victor Schoelcher’s dedication to his father. These figures represent the ideal facets of working-class life manual labor during the day and study in the evening. Above them a sandglass is held by two winged dragons and below is a skull. Alexis Fromanger created this haut-relief. Eck and Durand were the founders.
The medallion portraying Victor Schoelcher was added in 1894 after his death. Emmanuel Hannaux sculpted it. Victor Schoelcher was a politician and journalist. He is most known for the decree abolishing slavery in 1848. He discovered the horrors of slavery during travels to the West Indies for his family’s porcelain business. The monument’s inscriptions tell a story of family and legacy. Around the medallion it reads Victor Schoelcher Liberator of the slaves and his father Marc Schoelcher were solemnly transferred to the Panthéon. The inscription also notes Marc Schoelcher’s profession porcelain merchant. It states he was born in Fessenheim near Colmar. It further notes his death in Paris. It concludes with son Victor Schoelcher grateful. The side of the medallion bears E. Hannaux’s name and the year 1894.
Marc Schoelcher died in 1832. He was given a temporary burial. Victor and his elder brother Marc-Antoine financed the monument using their mother’s inheritance. She had died in 1839. The sculpture was created in 1840 and installed on Marc Schoelcher’s tomb in 1841. Victor was interred here in 1894 and the medallion was added. In 1949 the remains of both Marc and Victor Schoelcher were moved to the Panthéon. This was initiated by President Gaston Monnerville. So while this monument stands in Père Lachaise it is a tribute to their memory not their final resting place. The Monument à Victor Schoelcher is a powerful symbol of family dedication and the fight against slavery. It reminds us of Victor Schoelcher’s lasting impact on French history.