Two thousand guests, music and thousands of passers-by expected along the route: Tuesday, November 30, at 5.30 pm, France will honor the memory of Joséphine Baker, when she enters the temple of the "
Great Men
".
She will be the second artist, after the painter of the 18th Vien, whose name has not been retained by posterity, and the sixth woman to rest in the Pantheon.
Of course, she was also black, naturalized French, incredibly free, popular singer, resistant, adoptive mother of 12 children and committed to the fight against racism, which are all reasons to see her in the spotlight.
See also Josephine Baker: free opening of the Pantheon on December 4 and 5
The ceremony of November 30 was finalized
“with the family” according
to the entourage of the President of the Republic. Since the announcement of this new pantheonization in August, the Élysée has been in contact with three of Baker's 11 children still living - Brian Bouillon Baker, Marianne and Jean-Claude.
"This moment was really organized in consultation with us",
confirms Brian, set up as spokesperson for his siblings and who, for a few days, has been assailed by the press from all over the world.
During preparatory meetings, the three children asked that their mother stay in Monaco, where she is buried, not far from Joséphine's husband, her son, Moïse and Princess Grace of Monaco.
The latter had been one of the singer's few supporters in the latter part of her life, helping her first to find a home, then to perform.
It is therefore a cenotaph, filled with earth taken in Monaco, in Paris, at the Château des Milandes in Dordogne, where the family lived for twenty years, and in Saint-Louis, the birthplace of Joséphine, which will make its entry into the monument. .
It will be worn by Air Force soldiers, in tribute to Joséphine's past as a resistance fighter, as well as her engagement in 1944 and 1945, when she sang near combat zones.
Once in the monument, its cenotaph will descend to the crypt to the sound of music by Pascal Dusapin, composed at the time of the pantheonization of Maurice Genevoix and "Those of 14".
The National Monuments Center found a place for him in alley 13, near the writer.
The coffin, like all the others, will bear the only mention of the dates of birth (1906) and death (1975), as well as the name.
Prince Albert to honor Baker and Grace Kelly's friendship
The ceremony is intended to be a mixture of solemnity and emotions. In addition to a speech by Emmanuel Macron, who will recall to what extent she "
embodied the values of the Republic
", phrases from Joséphine, extracts from songs or speeches read by each of her children, and a children's choir, in front of resonate, transmitted on giant screens. The scenography was designed by the company Shortcut, which we had seen at work for the entry into the Pantheon of Antoine and Simone Veil, in 2018, or that of Genevoix, in 2020. Everything will be broadcasted. on France television.
Four days before the event, the guest list still didn't seem to be completely settled. On the official side, the Elysee has invited, in addition to the government, the two former presidents of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, and François Hollande, the former prime ministers, the heads of political parties, personalities of culture, including the bosses of cinemas in which she has performed (Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Bobino ...). On the family side, which already brings together 70 people, will come friends, relatives and those who had mobilized for this national recognition of Josephine Baker. If the idea was launched by Régis Debray, in 2013, it really took shape thanks to the action of a collective, Osez Joséphine, bringing together singer Laurent Voulzy, historian Pascal Ory,singers Fabienne Thibeault and Bernard Lavilliers, photographer Jean-Marie Perrier, Jack Lang and even Stéphane Bern. With a petition signed by 37,000 people, he managed to make his voice heard at the Élysée Palace. All will be there, along with several members of the Grimaldi family. In 1975, Princess Grace attended Josephine's funeral at the Madeleine Church. This time, the descendants of Joséphine Baker proposed to Prince Albert to be part of the "Madeleine church. This time, the descendants of Joséphine Baker proposed to Prince Albert to be part of the "Madeleine church. This time, the descendants of Joséphine Baker proposed to Prince Albert to be part of the "
family square
”, in memory of the friendship between his mother and Joséphine Baker.
A thousand people should be allowed to enter the vast nave of the Pantheon - despite a tense health context.
A thousand others will be seated in covered stands outside.
The general public will be able to watch the convoy rise from the bottom of rue Soufflot to the monument.
Closed until December 3, the Pantheon will also be open for free on December 4 and 5, to allow those who wish to go down into the crypt.
Icon of a proud and reconciled France - which should not escape the President of the Republic, in the midst of the presidential election campaign - Joséphine Baker generates a vast consensus around her.
The example of this woman who suffered from segregation in Missouri, landed in Paris in 1925 where she revolutionized the music hall, made French by marriage in 1937 then engaged for France, must be
"brought to the youth"
insists Emmanuel Macron's entourage.
