Meudon

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Meudon
Commune
Observatory of Meudon
Coat of arms
Paris and inner ring départements
Location of Meudon
Meudon Show map of France Meudon Show map of Île-de-France (region)
Coordinates: 48°48′44″N 2°14′17″E / 48.812309°N 2.238150°E / 48.812309; 2.238150
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Hauts-de-Seine
Arrondissement	Boulogne-Billancourt
Canton	Meudon
Intercommunality	Grand Paris
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Denis Larghero[1] (UDI)
Area 1	9.90 km2 (3.82 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]	46,342
• Density	4,700/km2 (12,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	92048 /92190, 92360
Elevation	28–179 m (92–587 ft) (avg. 103 m or 338 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Meudon (French pronunciation:

. The city is known for many historic monuments and some extraordinary trees.

Geography

The town of Meudon is built on the hills and valleys of the Seine. The wood of Meudon lies for the most part to the west of the town.

The north-west part of Meudon, overlooking the Seine, is known as Bellevue ("beautiful view").

The neighboring communes are:

(west).

The town includes several districts: Meudon-sur-Seine, Val Fleury, Meudon-Centre, Bellevue and Meudon-La-Forêt.

History

At Meudon, the

.

Archaeological sites show that Meudon has been populated since Neolithic times.

The Gauls called the area Mol-Dum (sand dune), and the Romans Latinized the name as Moldunum.

The handsome Galliera Institutions, on the hill of Fleury, were founded by the duchess of Galliera for the care of aged persons and orphans. The buildings were completed in 1885.

The old

was founded on the ruins in 1877. The Meudon town hall is about 43 m (141.08 ft) in altitude above that of Paris and the climb from there to the observatory offers some rewarding views of Paris.

Automotive pioneering

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, the inventor of the 'world's first automobile', is reported to have carried out some early trials at Meudon in the early 1770s.

Pioneering aviation

, was built in Hangar Y in 1884 and was the first airship which was controllable during flight and which could return to its starting point.

^[3]

Population

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 2,250 —     1800 2,015 −1.56% 1806 2,311 +2.31% 1821 2,265 −0.13% 1831 3,026 +2.94% 1836 3,233 +1.33% 1841 3,174 −0.37% 1846 3,680 +3.00% 1851 3,783 +0.55% 1856 4,789 +4.83% 1861 5,157 +1.49% 1866 6,620 +5.12% 1872 12,037 +10.48% 1876 6,425 −14.53% 1881 6,080 −1.10% 1886 7,621 +4.62% 1891 8,005 +0.99% 1896 8,892 +2.12%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 9,702 +1.76% 1906 10,289 +1.18% 1911 12,292 +3.62% 1921 15,649 +2.44% 1926 18,123 +2.98% 1931 20,870 +2.86% 1936 20,749 −0.12% 1946 20,797 +0.02% 1954 24,729 +2.19% 1962 34,878 +4.39% 1968 50,623 +6.41% 1975 52,806 +0.60% 1982 48,450 −1.22% 1990 45,339 −0.83% 1999 43,663 −0.42% 2007 44,873 +0.34% 2012 45,107 +0.10% 2017 45,352 +0.11%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Source: EHESS[4] and INSEE (1968-2017)[5]

Economy

Although a choice residential district, access to the railway (RER) and the Seine river have made Meudon a manufacturing center since the 1840s. Metal products and military explosives have been continuously produced there since then.

Scientific facilities

In addition to the Observatory, what is today

.

has a campus in Bellevue.

Public transport

Meudon is well served by public transport operated jointly by the SNCF and the RATP.

Réseau Express Régional (RER) – Line C

Meudon is served by line C of the RER by Meudon – Val Fleury station.

Line N

Meudon is also served by the Transilien Line N through Meudon station and Bellevue station.

Tramway – T2 and T6

The T2 tramway line links

stations.

The T6 tramway line runs from Châtillon to Viroflay. Meudon is served by Georges Millandy and Meudon la Forêt stations.

Buses

Meudon is served by twelve lines of the RATP bus network, that have numerous stops in the city:

• Line 162 runs from Arceuil –
  Villejuif Louis Aragon
  .
• Line 169 runs from
  Pont de Sèvres to the Georges Pompidou hospital
  .
• Line 179 runs from
  Robinson RER station
  .
• Line 190 runs from
  Mairie d'Issy
  .
• Line 289 runs from
  Porte de Saint-Cloud to Clamart
  – Cité de la Plaine.
• Line 290 runs from
  Issy-Val-de-Seine
  .
• Line 291 runs from
  Pont de Sèvres
  to Vélizy Europe Sud.
• Line 379 runs from
  La Croix de Berny RER station
  .
• Line 389 runs from
  Pont de Sèvres
  to Meudon-la-Forêt.
• Line 390 runs from
  RER station
  .

The area was once served by the Bellevue funicular, a model of which is in the local Museum of Art and History.

Education

Public schools:

• Three groups of preschools and elementary schools^[6]
• Nine standalone preschools^[7]
• Six standalone public elementary schools^[8]
• Three junior high schools: Collège Armande Béjart, Collège Bel Air, Collège Rabelais^[9]
• Two senior high schools: Lycée Rabelais and Lycée des métiers Les Côtes de Villebon^[9]

Private schools:

• One junior and senior high school Institut Notre-Dame^[9]
• One elementary school through junior high school^[10]
• Three preschools-elementary schools^[10]

International relations

Meudon is

• 
  Coat of arms at twin town Celle (Germany), granite artwork below signpost

Cultural heritage

The Imperial Cedar (Cèdre Impérial), attracted the attention of Empress Eugénie and Queen Victoria.^[12] As of March 2021, the tree is in good condition, but it is threatened by real estate speculation. Another real estate project is planned for the historic park of the Napoleon III villa built by Charles Schacher. Both projects are controversial and have aroused local opposition.

Personalities

• Painter
  May Alcott
  lived here until her death.
• Émilie Ambre, the French opera singer, lived on an estate in Meudon bought for her by her then-lover William III of the Netherlands in 1877
• Artists Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp were resident here from 1929 to 1940. Their neighbours were the artist and architect Theo van Doesburg and his wife Nelly.
• Édouard-Gérard Balbiani (1823–1899), embryologist, died in Meudon
• The 20th-century French lawyer and Islamologist Georges-Henri Bousquet (1900–1978) was born in Meudon.
• Louis-Ferdinand Céline lived here until his death, and is buried in Cimetière Longs Réages, Bas Meudon.
• Gregoire Defrel
  , footballer
• Madame de Pompadour lived in the Château de Bellevue, built for her by Louis XV in 1750; it was demolished in 1823.
• Lorenzo Callegari, footballer
• Souleymane Doukara, footballer
• Marcel Dupré, perhaps the most famous French organist of the 20th century, lived and worked in Meudon. He transformed his home into a small concert hall; the current owners of the home still hold public concerts there.^[13]
• Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, footballer
• The painter Gwen John lived in Meudon from 1911 until just before her death in 1939.
• Argeline Buise the model for Gwen Johns' painting The Pilgrim (1920) was a resident of Meudon. Gwen painted her "again and again"^[14]
• Lionel Jospin, former France prime minister, was born here.
• André Kertész, photographer legend, took a famous photo of the train viaduct in Meudon.
• Charle-Michel Marle, mathematician, born in 1934, has lived in Meudon since 1970.
• Jean-Luc Marion was born in 1946.
• The artist Jean Metzinger lived and worked in Meudon from around 1911, during some of the crucial years of Cubism.
• George Simeon Papadopoulos, OBE, Professor of History, Dep. Director of Education Department of OECD (1925–2012)
• Clémence Poésy, French actress attended the bilingual alternative school La Source, Meudon, and is best known for her portrayal of Fleur Delacour in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie.
• The town has a monument to
  canon
  of Meudon, where he held the benefice from 1551 to 1552.
• Jean Robiquet, art historian and curator was born in Meudon 6 July 1874.
• Sculptor Auguste Rodin's villa "des Brillants", now a museum of his art, is located here, as is his grave.
• Jean-Paul Sartre grew up at his maternal grandfather's house in Meudon, as recounted in his memoir The Words
• Adama Soumare
  , footballer
• Grand Duke
  Boris Vladimirovich of Russia
  lived here in exile in Château Sans-Souci (in Bellevue), from 1920.
• The Flying Dutchman
  .

See also

• Communes of the Hauts-de-Seine department
• A statue of François Rabelais by Georges Saupique stands in front of the Meudon town hall. François Rabelais was the parish priest of Meudon from 1551 to 1553
• Chateau de Meudon

References

External links

• Ville de Meudon website
• Le musée de Meudon
• Observatoire de Paris (Paris Observatory)