Hero of the Napoleonic wars, General Gudin honored and buried at Invalides

At the Invalides, in Paris, on Thursday, December 2, a ceremony was held for a general… Napoleonic. Charles-Etienne Gudin, classmate then comrade in arms of the emperor, died in action in 1812 near Smolensk, when Napoleon wanted to invade Russia. This is where his remains were found, 207 years later, and repatriated to France for burial. And it is he that is honored on Thursday, December 2, 1805, a symbolic date since it also marks that of the victory of Austerlitz.

His grave was believed to have been destroyed during the war, but a few die-hards rediscovered it two years ago. “I saw that he had died in Napoleon’s arms after the battle of Valentina Gora and I said to myself that I would like to find this guy!” This requires the enthusiasm of Pierre Malinowski, a French passionate about Russia, who was also parliamentary attaché to Jean-Marie Le Pen.

“It was just an idea, because looking 1m70 across Russia… it was almost unplayable! But I thought it was an opportunity to bring our two countries closer together.”

Pierre Malinowski

to franceinfo

After several unsuccessful expeditions, excavations took place in a tumulus in the citadel of Smolensk in July 2019. And bingo! “There was a one in a billion chance but he was there!”, he enthuses. The skeleton, recognizable by its amputated leg, mown in combat is formally identified by its DNA, a few months later.

It will take a little procrastination and two more years for his remains to be repatriated to France by Malinowski. A relief, for one of Gudin’s descendants, Alberic d’Orléans: “He’s my eight-time great-grandfather, he explains. I grew up in his shadow because there was his portrait at home. “ Also, the choice of Invalides seems to him deserved for the last home of his grandfather. “There is all his place, his service record largely justifies it. He has an exceptional career, a summary of the history of France and he was among the best generals of Napoleon.”

Emmanuel Macron was not, however, present during this ceremony. What the academician and Russian specialist Hélène Carrère d’Encausse understands: “The French are not interested enough for the President of the Republic to make it an event”, she concedes. Even if a presidential tribute had been mentioned, as well as the presence of Vladimir Poutin, confirms the historian, before relations between Paris and Moscow weakened, and the idea was abandoned.

“What this tells us is that Franco-Russian relations are not about to give rise to big events”, notes Hélène Carrère d’Encausse. Not enough to spoil the party, however, for Pierre Malinowski: “Politics are changing, but Gudin will stay: it’s unique, unexpected.” And through Gudin, it is the Napoleonic epic that we celebrate, in this year of the bicentenary of the emperor’s death.