Monaco has paid tribute to Marcel Pagnol, the famous French writer and filmmaker who resided in the Principality for more than a decade and shared a close relationship with Prince Rainier III and his father, Prince Pierre.
Marcel Pagnol, who was deeply connected to Monaco, passed away in 1974. On 16th April, 50 years after his death, a day of remembrance was held in the Principality at the instigation of Prince Albert II.
The day began with a public tribute in the Place Marcel Pagnol in the Jardin Trocadero, where the Prince and Nicolas Pagnol, the writer’s grandson, unveiled a commemorative stone. A plaque honouring the great man was also erected at 12 Boulevard de Moulins, where Pagnol resided from 1951 to 1954.
“A very beautiful ceremony to remind us of the deep ties that Marcel Pagnol had with the Prince’s Palace of Monaco,” said Nicolas Pagnol of the event. “My grandfather was a man of all Provence, which Frédéric Mistral defined as the territory stretching from Arles to Menton.”
As the day progressed, a roundtable discussion entitled ‘Pagnol le Monégasque’ was held at the Théâtre des Variétés, where the audience enjoyed exclusive insights into Pagnol’s life through never-before-seen footage sourced from the Palace and his family archives.
Concluding the day, a screening of The Baker’s Wife, a French language film by Pagnol from 1938, took place as part of the All the Art of Cinema programme run by the Monaco’s Audiovisual Institute.
A double stamp of Pagnol and the late Prince Pierre was also released to mark the occasion.
Click on the images below to see more photographs of the event:
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Photo credit: Monaco Communications Department / Manuel Vitali