Joséphine Baker loved France and the French give her back. They were a few thousand in line in front of the Pantheon, Saturday, December 4, to be able to access the crypt and vault number 13.
Civil rights activist, resistant during World War II, the Franco-American artist is the sixth personality to have joined, Tuesday, the “Immortelles”. And as after each pantheonization, admission to the public is free this weekend to allow those who wish to come and pay homage to him.
You wish to pay tribute to # JosephineBaker, icon of the Roaring Twenties, resistant and anti-racist activist?
️ The #Pantheon is open for free this weekend, without reservation! https: //t.co/TVDUk1YbSz pic.twitter.com/lY0XuOlnYj– the CMN (@leCMN) December 4, 2021
Marouane insisted on being there with some friends. “I like the story, General De Gaulle, so I came. It’s also a way to discover the resistance with new characters, I don’t mean atypical, but different. It’s good to show that in the resistance, there were also women. Few people know that there is a resistant who comes from the United States “, he explains. This is also the strength of a pantheonization, to discover figures of history according to Michaël, a Breton passing through Paris: “I knew her name but I had never really been interested in her background. And there I discovered Josephine Baker in another aspect that I did not know. It was her resistant side which, for me, was important. I discovered this lately. “
And then, entering the Pantheon also raises questions about history, the past but also about our society, its evolution. “What surprised me was the fact that she is now in the Pantheon compared to the date of her death, in 1975, and compared to other figures who were put in the Pantheon right away, says Ambre, who came to pay tribute to the woman civil rights activist.It is perhaps also the evolution of mentalities that makes Joséphine Baker, a black personality who fought for the recognition of blacks in society, today is in the Pantheon. “
At a time when we often speak of a fracture in society, this pantheonization of Joséphine Baker creates a kind of unity and consensus which is good for David, a Toulouse resident in Paris for the weekend. “Life lacks examples of this style to make people find fellowship again. She has worked to bring people together. It’s beautiful.”, he said.
The first visitors come to the Pantheon to pay tribute to Joséphine Baker – Report by Boris Loumagne
to listen