Monument to Emile Lemaitre - Boulogne-sur-mer

The original statue of Emile Lemaitre, journalist, historian and philanthropist, was inaugurated in 1934.

During 1942-1944 it was melted down under the Vichy regime and replaced by a marble copy.

Born in Paris into a middle-class family, he did very well at school and chose journalism . He started, somewhat by chance, as an editor of the newspaper L'Indépendant, founded in 1832 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, a city he fell in love with forever. For thirty-five years, he wrote and edited the two newspapers of Boulogne-sur-Mer: 'L'Indépendant' and 'Le Boulonnais'.

A staunch republican and very popular in the city, he was elected municipal councillor and remained so for twenty-five years. In 1919 , he left for Pau, where he was appointed curator of the castle, which gave him the opportunity to write several history books. When he reached the age limit, he returned to Pau and devoted himself mainly to charity work: he was a member of the board of directors of the Beaucerf orphanages and founder and president of the charity 'La Tasse de lait', intended to help the most disadvantaged children.

Willem Vandenameele