Nicolas Frochot Mausoleum

Nicolas Frochot
March 20, 1761-July 29, 1828
Division 37
Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris

Nicolas Frochot is remembered as a man who improved things. Born into a Bourgeois family he entered into what can best described as a career of public service. At age 28 he was elected député des États généraux and was responsible for compiling and airing grievances. Frochot was imprisoned during the Terror but released after the fall of Robespierre. After his release, he held a series of government posts before being appointed prefect of the Seine. In that capacity he instituted a number of social reforms concerning prisons, hospitals, and abandoned children. He also took measures to improve roads, bridges and other aspects of Paris’ infrastructure.

Frochot may be best known as the man who negotiated the sale of the land that established Père-Lachaise cemetery, as well as the land that became Montmartre cemetery, Montparnasse cemetery, and Passy cemetery. He brokered the transfer of the remains of Héloïse and Abélard, Molière, and La Fontaine to Père-Lachaise in 1817. His classical revival mausoleum was designed by Nicolas Bernard Raggi (1790-1862). It is awash with funerary symbolism including a draped urn, hourglass with wings, inverted torches, and two sorrowful bas-reliefs. Both a street and an avenue in Paris are named after Frochot.

Text and copy © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page

[address cemetery=”Père Lachaise Cemetery” street=”16 Rue du Repos ” city=”Paris” country=”France” zip=”75020″]