10+ Famous People Buried in Père-Lachaise, Paris

Last Updated on 25th October 2024 by Sophie Nadeau

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Political leaders, singers, actors, and artists all find their final resting place in the most famous cemetery in Paris (there are 14 in total). Here’s your guide to some of the most famous people buried in Père-Lachaise.

So vast, expansive and ancient is the cemetery at Pere Lachaise that no one knows exactly how many souls rest there. Conservative estimates begin anywhere from 300,000 people up to a million.

Taking into consideration the number of human remains resting in the ossuary, between two and three million people have found their final resting place at Pere Lachaise.

The cemetery can be found in the 20th arrondissement of the French capital (in the Eastern part of intra-muros Paris) and is one of the most visited burial grounds in the world. Considering Père-Lachaise’s enormous size of 110 acres, the cemetery is classed as both the largest park and the largest cemetery in Paris.

People who have been buried in Père-Lachaise:

Abelard and Heloïse 

One of the most famous, and undoubtedly one of the most tragic, love stories from the Middle Ages is that of Abelard & Heloïse. A tale of forbidden love, this passionate 12th century love affair started between philosopher and theologian Peter Aberlard and his student Heloise d’Argenteuil.

Eventually they were caught in the act of this scandal and despite Heloise’s uncle Fulbert’s efforts to stop them, Heloise became pregnant and gave birth to a son, Astrolabe who would be brought up by Aberlard’s sister.

Suggesting the marry in secret, Heloise rejected this notion as she valued love over marriage and her freedom over ‘chains’, this however changed when she decided to go back on this and please Aberlard.

However things took (yes, more twists) another turn when Aberlard suggests that Heloise flee to Argenteuil convent for safety as he didn’t trust her uncle. Fulbert interpreted this as Aberlard washing his hands off of his niece, therefore had a gang of thugs castrate Aberlard.

…truly a rollercoaster soap opera style! The affair ended with Aberlard becoming a monk and Heloise remaining at the convent as a nun, they both lived the rest of their lives cloistered. Although there’s evidence to show that they kept in correspondence via some very erotic exchanges of letters.

Abelard died in April, 1142 and Heloise went on to live for two decades more. It is her love, both in writing and the desire to preserve their letters, which has made them immortal.

The grave is not far from the entrance to the historic graveyard and is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful tombs of all, with effigies of both lovers sleeping side by side atop a table tomb and encased in a Gothic open-sided house.

Final plot twist, the thing is no one is actually sure if Heloise and Abelard actually lie in Pere Lachaise! Their remains were moved time and time again so there’s a dispute as to whether they are still really there, but if they are then they are some of the oldest bones to be in the Pere Lachaise cemetery.

Jim Morrison

James Douglas Morrison, known as Jim to most, was the lead singer of the rock band, The Doors. He was an energetic presence with talent beyond his years, as the lead vocalist Jim Morrison had a distinctive voice and wrote poetic lyrics which captivated audiences all over the world.

Jim was a highly intelligent individual and went on to have an illustrious career, taking influence from blues, psychedelic and rock music he wanted to break free from the ‘norms’ of music and create something exciting and new!

Sadly, a short time after his career was in full swing, Jim was found by his long term companion Pamela Susan Courson in the bathtub of their apartment. Having suffered from a sudden heart failure, Morrison died unexpectedly in Paris at the young age of just 27 in 1971.

Morrison had made it clear to several of his friends while living in Paris that he wished to be buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery after his death. Today the grave of this musical legend remains the most visited of all in the Pere Lachcaise cemetery, standing testament to Jim Morrison as one of the most influential frontmen in rock history!

Oscar Wilde

Probably one of the most famous people to be interred in Père-Lachaise is the Irish poet and playwright, Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde. His literary reputation is most widely known by his novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, a wonder ahead of its time!

Born in Dublin in 1854, Oscar Wilde grew up in a fairly comfortable upper class lifestyle with a string of education at some prestigious schools, including Trinity College, Dublin and Magdalen College, Oxford in his college years.

After his first success, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Wilde’s wit and charisma was seen through his writing and thus his career kicked off! Wilde later married and had two children, living in the high social circles of London, and by the early 1890s he became one of London’s most popular playwrights.

This was all taken away as fast as a click of a pen when Oscar Wilde began an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, a young British poet and aristocrat who was sixteen years younger, and at the time homosexuality was a criminal offence in England, and remained so until 1967.

Convicted of “gross indecency”  Wilde was sentenced to two years in prison and his public image was shamed, and his marriage ruined. With bridges having been burnt in London, on his release, he went to Paris to make a new life for himself.

In Paris he rented an apartment at the now five-star, L’Hotel nestled in the St Germain-des-Prés neighbourhood. He often wandered the Seine, enjoyed the romantic atmosphere of the City of Lights and would often frequent Moulin Rouge.

Oscar Wilde died of acute meningitis on 30 November 1900 in Paris at 46 years old.

His tomb is as flamboyant and extravagant as it should be, designed by sculptor Jacob Epstein, it took up to ten months to complete! Today Wilde’s tomb is visited by thousands each year and it has become somewhat of a tradition to leave a lipstick stained kiss where his body rests.

Edith Piaf

One of the most famous French singers to have ever lived is Edith Piaf, who grew up along rue Oberkampf in the 11th arrondissement of the city. Piaf became a Parisian idol, hailed as the voice of the people, you may well recognise her voice from the famous hit ‘La Vie en Rose’.

Standing at a height only four-foot-eight, she was known by locals as “The Little Sparrow”. Piaf’s powerhouse of a voice was distinctive and raw with emotion. She often wrote autobiographically, her songs followed themes of love, loss and sorrow.

Suffering from failing health, partly due to alcohol and drug abuse, Edith Piaf died at the age of 47 on the 11th October in 1963 from liver cancer.

Thousands of people across France, and all of the world in fact, mourned for Piaf. With over 100,000 at her funeral procession, it was clear to see how many hearts she had touched.

Since the east of Paris was her birthplace and where she spent the duration of her life, it was only natural for her resting place to be in Père-Lachaise. Buried with extended family, her body lies in a family tomb.

Frederic Chopin

A Polish composer and pianist of the Romantic period, Chopin was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century. He wrote expressive and innovative music, and his memorable melodies continue to live on in our popular culture.

If you’ve watched the famous film, The Pianist (2002) a biographical Holocaust war drama, then you’ll probably recognise his most famous piece of music Nocturne in C Sharp Minor.

Moving to France to pursue his career as a pianist at the age of 21, Chopin had no idea he would never return to his homeland Poland, although he emphasised throughout his life that it’s where his heart was.

Sadly Chopin died in Paris, 1849 from pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 39. As his death was that of a slow one, he made arrangements for his own funeral and had his own ideas in mind when it came to the burial…

Taphophobia (the fear of being buried alive) was so extreme in Chopin’s case that he requested from his sister that his heart be removed from his body and taken to Warsaw to be buried at a local church. So now, in a pillar in the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw lies Chopin’s heart.

Chopin had kept a container of Polish soil since 1830, and when he was buried in Père-Lachaise, it was sprinkled over his coffin!

Baron Haussmann

Georges-Eugène Haussmann, known as Baron Haussmann, was a French official and Prefect of the Seine, and if you’ve ever been to Paris, then there’s no doubt you’ll be familiar with the wide boulevards and large sidewalks which characterise the city today.

What you might well not know is that this was because Paris underwent huge renovations during the 19th-century, in which the city as we know it today was created. The chief architect of this mass undertaking was Baron Haussmann,  a French official who served as prefect of Seine, chosen by Emperor Napoleon III.

As with nearly every urban renovation, came it’s problems…perhaps leading to the downfall of Hausssmann’s public life. Criticised for costs, and forcing people to move from their homes, Baron Haussmann became somewhat of a scapegoat for Napoleon III as he  deposed Haussmann him in 1870 in order to improve his own flagging popularity.

Nevertheless, Haussmann went on to live for a long time and only died in 1891 at the age of 81. In fact, his wife had died just eighteen days before him. Visitors today can see Baron Haussmann’s final resting place in the Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

Marcel Proust

Marcel Proust was an early 20th century French novelist, literary critic and essayist, who is the author of the longest novel in the world,  À la recherche du temps perdu, a book that is so long it has 1,267,069 words in it…double that of the famously long book War and Peace!

Translated as ‘In Search of Lost Time’, Proust’s huge novel took 13 years to complete! Some claim the book to be ‘life changing’ as he writes for a hypersensitive perception and explores the human sexual experience in ways literature hadn’t before.

Sadly he died from pneumonia in November 1922 at age 51, before the last three volumes had been released. He way lay to rest in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in his own tomb.

Colette

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, known as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters (a critical thinker of ideology and culture) who is best known for her novella, ‘Gigi’.

Colette’s life was extremely productive, writing pretty much her whole existence, she became a feminist icon for many!  She was also a lover of cats and had five of her own furry friends, in fact her last moments on earth were spent with her beloved cats. She passed away in her beautiful Palais-Royal apartment overlooking Paris, at the peaceful age of 81.

Although she was refused a religious funeral by the Catholic Church (because of multiple divorces) Colette became first French woman of letters to be granted the honour, and interred in Père-Lachaise cemetry, where visitors can now see her resting place.

Sarah Bernhardt

The visionary Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage actor who starred in some of the more popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including ‘La Dame aux Camelias’.

Not only was she a great actor, but also an influencer of fashion, an artist, activist and writer too. Said to have been hot-headed, Sarah Bernhardt had levels of confidence that were unseen in her time.

Stealing the hearts of Paris, this fabulous queen of attitude was bold and later on in her career in 1893 Bernhardt became the theatre manager of Théâtre de la Renaissance. In 1899 she relocated to Théâtre des Nations (where she had previously been), and she renamed the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt and managed until her death in 1923, talk about girl bossing it!

Sadly Bernhardt would carry out her final tour in America, 1915 before returning to France and suffering from kidney failure, she died at age 79. Her passing was felt and mourned by people all over the world and her grand tomb remains one of the popular ones to see when visiting Père-Lachaise cemetery.

Eileen Gray

An Irish architect and designer of furniture, Eileen Gray was known for her bold and innovative designs, and a pioneer for the Modern Movement in architecture!

Born in Ireland, she spent most of her life in London where she would be one of the first women to be admitted to the prestigious Slade Art School (part of the University College of London), she then moved to Paris in 1902.

In 1922 she opened her own gallery, Jean Désert, which would be an outlet for her designs, but she continued many projects up until her death in1976. Largely unknown in her lifetime, especially to that of her male peers, but her contributions to the world of architecture and design live on through her work.

She died on Halloween at the age of 98, and rests in the Père-Lachiase cemetery, but because her family omitted to pay the licence fee her grave is not identifiable.

Maria Callas

Maria Callas was an American born Greek soprano singer who was one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century, a voice filled with passion, technical brilliance and expressive flair!

Sadly she passed away at the age of 53 from a heart attack. Her final resting place was originally in the Père-Lachaise cemetery.

She was cremated and then interred in an urn in the Parisian cemetery until 1979 when her remains were taken and scattered over the Aegean Sea as was her final wish. Today, the empty niche where her urn once was interred now remains.

Gioachino Rossini

The Italian born composer Gioachino Rossini was born in Pesaro on the Adriatic coastline in 1792. From the age of six, his mother began a career as a professional singer in comic opera, and thanks to a comprehensive education in Italian, Latin and arithmetic, and music, Rossini had composed six sonatas for four stringed instruments.

Rossini died in Paris in 1868 and was originally buried in Père-Lachaise. However, soon after his wife was given the opportunity to instead inter him in Santa Croce in Florence (where many other famous composers are interred) and so his body was moved to Florence in 1887. Today, his former empty tomb remains in the 20th arrondissement of Paris.

Molière 

The famed Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name of Molière. Molière was best known for his works such as Misanthrope, Tartuffe, and The School for Wives, many of which are still performed to this day.

So influential was his work, that he is often considered to be the father of the ‘Comédie-Française’. Molière suffered from tuberculosis and actually died a few hours after a haemorrhage during a performance where he played the part of a hypochondriac Argan.

At that time, actors were denied a Christian burial. However, his widow managed to bribe the right people and Molière was granted a nighttime undercover burial at St. Joseph. During the French Revolution, in 1792, leaders decided that a portion of the town should be renamed in the comedian’s honour.

The problem was that no one could quite remember where Molière was buried! Bones were exhumed and they were labelled as “Moliere” (even if this probably wasn’t the case). The bones were then housed in a museum for just under two decades before they were moved to Père Lachaise.

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