The ceremony was grave, calm and solemn, just as the deceased's wife had wished. Robert Badinter (1928-2024) was enshrined in the Panthéon on Thursday, October 9, in the midst of a large, contemplative crowd, and now symbolically rests alongside the heirs of the Enlightenment's ideals: Historical figures such as Abbé Grégoire, Gaspard Monge and Nicolas de Condorcet. Badinter loved Condorcet, his 18th-century counterpart, to whom he devoted a meticulous biography, written together with his wife, Elisabeth Badinter (Condorcet. Un Intellectuel en Politique, "Condorcet: An Intellectual in Politics").
The ceremony was an intense hour of republican commemoration, conducted before a crowd of outgoing ministers, such as Sébastien Lecornu, Gérald Darmanin and Rachida Dati, former prime ministers and official guests. Ex-premier Dominique de Villepin chatted with MP Michel Barnier; the president of the Sénat, Gérard Larcher, with recently ousted prime minister François Bayrou. Former president François Hollande arrived at the last moment, and his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, was absent. The dignitaries were inside the republican temple, but when the footage of the ceremony reached the crowd gathered outside, the boos were so loud that, on the giant screens, the parade of politicians was replaced by Badinter's noble portrait.
You have 80.29% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.