Le Kremlin-Bicêtre

Le Kremlin-Bicêtre
Town hall
Coat of arms
Paris and inner ring departments
Coordinates: 48°48′36″N 2°21′29″E / 48.81°N 2.3581°ECoordinates: 48°48′36″N 2°21′29″E / 48.81°N 2.3581°E
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Val-de-Marne
Arrondissement	L'Haÿ-les-Roses
Canton	Le Kremlin-Bicêtre
Intercommunality	Val de Bièvre
Government
• Mayor (2001–2014)	Jean-Luc Laurent
Area^1	1.54 km^2 (0.59 sq mi)
Population (2006)^2	26,018
• Density	17,000/km^2 (44,000/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	94043 / 94270
Elevation	45–115 m (148–377 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. ^2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Le Kremlin-Bicêtre is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 4.5 km (2.8 mi) from the center of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.

Le Kremlin-Bicêtre is most famous as the location of the Bicêtre Hospital, where Superintendent Philippe Pinel is credited as being the first to introduce humane methods into the treatment of the mentally ill, in 1793. Its most notorious guest was the Marquis de Sade.

Name

The name has roots both in England and Russia. Le Kremlin-Bicêtre was originally a hamlet called simply Bicêtre and located within the commune of Gentilly. The name Bicêtre comes from the manor built there by John of Pontoise, Bishop of Winchester (England), in the end of the 13th century. The name of this Manor of Winchester was corrupted into Vinchestre, then Bichestre, and eventually Bicêtre. The Bicêtre Hospital was built starting in 1634 on the ruins of the manor.

In 1813 the Bicêtre Hospital acted as a major reception point for evacuated casualties of the Grande Armée from the French invasion of Russia. Veterans of the invasion of Russia used to gather in a tavern near Bicêtre Hospital. This tavern was soon renamed Au sergent du Kremlin ("At the Kremlin sergeant") in reference to the Moscow Kremlin where the veterans had camped.

Gradually the name Kremlin was used for the whole neighborhood around the Bicêtre Hospital, and appeared for the first time officially in an ordnance map of 1832. Later the names Kremlin and Bicêtre were joined together and became the official name of the area.

History

The commune of Le Kremlin-Bicêtre was created on 13 December 1896 by detaching its territory from the commune of Gentilly.

Transport

Le Kremlin-Bicêtre is served by Le Kremlin-Bicêtre station on Paris Métro Line 7.

Education

Lycée intercommunal Darius-Milhaud is in Le Kremlin-Bicêtre.

Le Kremlin-Bicêtre is also well known because of the computer science schools EPITA and EPITECH. The computer programming school Coding Academy, IONIS School of Technology and Management and the school E-Artsup are also located in the commune.

Notable residents

• Roger Caillois (1913–1978), writer, sociologist, and literary critic.
• Suzanne Flon actress and comedian, born in 1918 at Kremlin-Bicêtre.
• Kamelancien (aka Kamelanc'), rap artist of Moroccan origin, who debuted in 1993.
• Charles Lavialle (Émile Charles Jean Aldéric Lavialle) was an actor, who died 16 October 1965 in this town.
• Lazare Ponticelli, the last surviving French and Italian veteran of World War I, Resistance member and industrialist, died here in 2008.
• Vincent Purkart, seven-time French table tennis champion and creator of the Secrétin-Purkart Show, a humorous look at the sport broadcast on television.
• Jean-François Revel, intellectual, lived in this town during the latter part of his life, and he died here in April 2006.
• Farid Dms Debah is a director and producer. He received the Kremlin-Bicêtre City Honor Medal in 2004.

Gallery

• 

  Townhall

• 

  Music School & cultural center "André Malraux"

See also

• Communes of the Val-de-Marne department

References

• INSEE
• Mayors of Essonne Association (French)

External links

• (French) Kremlin-Bicêtre official website