The only non-French glory that rested until now in the Pantheon of illustrious people of France was the singer Josephine Baker. In 2021, he entered this temple dedicated to honoring the great characters who have marked the history of the country.. Missak Manouchian, an Armenian communist who led a resistance network against the German occupation, and his wife, Mélinée, also rest since this Wednesday.. The names of the 22 members of the group will also appear, among them the Spaniard Celestino Alfonso, executed by the Nazis in 1944.
This solemn ceremony, which is usually a time to honor memory, is celebrated surrounded by controversy due to the presence of the far-right leader Marine Le Pen.. She announced on Monday that she would attend the event, despite the reluctance shown by the president, Emmanuel Macron, and members of the committee that had promoted the entry of the resisters into the monument.
In an interview with L'Humanité published on Sunday, Macron had invited “extreme right-wing forces” not to be present “given the nature of Manouchian's struggle”, who precisely lost his life in the battle against the rise of extreme right-wing extremists. right. Macron insisted that the “spirit of decency and the relationship with history” should “lead to making a decision,” referring to Le Pen's National Rally party.
Le Pen's presence at certain ceremonies or events is uncomfortable, due to her party's past.. The clearest example was when, in November, he decided to participate in the march against anti-Semitism that was held in Paris, after the Hamas attacks on October 7.. Her father, founder of the National Front (as the group was called before she changed its name), had been convicted precisely of anti-Semitism.
Le Pen's presence bothered the extreme left above all, but then Macron did not comment on the matter. Yes, it has done so now, which, according to Le Pen herself, “represents a political instrumentalization of a moment of national unity and a political and moral failure.”
“Don't come, Mrs. Le Pen”
Members of the support committee for the entry of the resisters into the Pantheon of Great Glories also criticized Le Pen's presence at the ceremony, considering it “a lack of respect,” the grandson of one of those shot said on the radio. RTL. “For the memory of the 23 shot that day, I ask you: do not come, Mrs. Le Pen.”
With her presence in this tribute to the Armenian communist and his comrades, Marine Le Pen rounds off the process of de-diabolization of her figure and that of her party, distancing herself from her father's heritage and normalizing her political ideology. In fact, Le Pen is gaining more and more popularity in France and her party is leading the polls ahead of the European elections in June.
After surviving the Armenian genocide, Manouchian joined the French Communist Party and tried to apply for French nationality, although it was never given to him.. Today it enters the place for the great glories of the country, where Voltaire or Victor Hugo are. It is “the second time that a figure who is not French but who nevertheless chose France to fight to defend its universalist and republican values, running a great risk, has entered the pantheon,” the Elysée noted.
Manouchian's network was dismantled by the Nazis, with the complicity of the French police, and he and the rest of the combatants were shot on February 21, 1944 at Mont Valérien, which has become a symbol of the resistance.. As of today, all of them, the Elysée has clarified, “join the resistance fighters” who already rest there, such as Jean Moulin, who entered the Pantheon in 1964, and other figures such as Pierre Brossolette, Jean Zay, Germaine Tillion and Geneviève Anthonioz de Gaulle (did it in 2015). The other 22 members of the network access in a symbolic way, since their names will be recorded in the Pantheon, and already recognized as “dead for France.”