Eighty years to the day after his execution by the Nazis, the resistance fighter of Armenian origin Missak Manouchian was pantheonized this Wednesday, accompanied by his wife Mélinée.
Missak Manouchian thus becomes the first foreigner and the first communist to enter the Pantheon.
The ceremony was held in the presence of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, who spoke with Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée beforehand.
The couple's Armenian origins were highlighted from the start of the ceremony with a performance by artist Rostom Kachikian, performing
A Dream on the Horizon
on the duduk, a sort of Armenian oboe.
Manouchian's letter read by Bruel
The performance was followed by a reading of Missak Manouchian's farewell letter addressed to his wife Mélinée, on the day of her death, by Patrick Bruel.
The French singer is very committed to the Armenian cause and is a member of the sponsorship committee of the “Manouchian at the Pantheon” initiative.
The names of the 24 comrades of FTP-MOI were listed by director Serge Avedikian.
Each of the names was followed by the formula “death for France”.
Only the body of Missak Manouchian enters the Pantheon this Wednesday but a plaque with the names of his 23 comrades executed with him has been created.
VIDEO.
Missak Manouchian at the Pantheon: follow the ceremony chaired by Emmanuel Macron
Around 6:45 p.m., the two coffins began their journey towards the Pantheon, along rue Soufflot, carried by 14 members of the Foreign Legion.
The start of the journey was marked by a rendition of the piece
They fell
, by Charles Aznavour, by 90 children from the popular master's choir of the Opéra-comique.
The Manouchian and Aznavour families have been closely linked.
Charles Aznavour's parents notably hid Missak and Mélinée during the war.
Arriving at the Place du Panthéon, the heart of the French Army performed the
Song of the Partisans
.
The performance was followed by Louis Aragon's poem “L'annonce rouge”, sung by Feu!
Chatterton.
“Grateful France welcomes you”
The ceremony ended with a speech by the President of the Republic.
“This odyssey of freedom, that of Manouch and his comrades in arms, is also ours,” proclaimed Emmanuel Macron.
The Head of State returned to the life of this Armenian immigrant, “drunk with a great dream of freedom”, who fled the genocide of his people and then saw the fascist threat return.
A man “who twice asked to become French”.
In vain.
Emmanuel Macron greeted these “French people of preference, French people of hope” for whom “the love of France” went “to the point of giving his life”.
“Today 24 faces enter the pantheon (…), all of whom are now recognized as having died for France,” continued the president.
“France, grateful, welcomes you.
Missak and Mélinée, destinies of Armenia and France, loves finally rediscovered,” concluded the Head of State before observing a minute of silence and giving way to the Marseille woman.