A ceremony will be held today in Paris to mark the entry of four leading resistants into the Pantheon (pantheonisation) which since the revolution has been the resting place of heroes of the Republic. Formerly a church built by Louis XIV the building was taken over by the atheist revolutionaries to house the remains of people deemed to have made an important contribution to France.
People honoured include those from the arts (Victor Hugo), science (Marie Curie), politics (Jean Jaures, Jean Monnet) and war heroes, including resistants such as Jean Moulin.
Today four resistance leaders, two men and two women, will be honoured by the nation, led by President Hollande. Germaine Tillion, Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz, Pierre Brossolette et Jean Zay all were active during WWII in the resistance. The two women were arrested and imprisoned at Ravenbruck, but survived to carry on humanitarian work. The two men both died after being arrested by the Gestapo, Jean Zay murdered by the Vichy militia; Brossolette committed suicide by jumping from a 4th floor window.
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