In one of the largest Polish necropolises in France, the Montmartre cemetery in Paris, rests a Polish doctor, a doctor of medicine and surgery, a participant in the November Rising decorated with the Virtuti Militari Cross, Jan Edward Matuszyński (1808-1842). He was one of Fryderyk Chopin's closest friends, and his death shocked the composer.

The story of an unusual friendship

Matuszyński was a close friend and confidant of Chopin from his school days. After his departure for France in 1834, he briefly shared a flat with him on the Chausée d'Antin, under the pretext of providing health care for his friend. Two years later, Chopin expressed his gratitude to the 'court physician' by acting as a witness at his wedding to Charlotte Clotilde Boquet. Matuszyñski died suddenly of tuberculosis on 20 April 1842. In his last moments, in his flat on rue de Verneuil, he was accompanied by Fryderyk Chopin and George Sand.

Description of the tomb

The burial place is marked by a tomb with a stele surmounted by a bronze Latin cross. The tomb is of cuboidal shape, covered with a slab decorated with an engraved inscription to the front. The stele is topped with a decorative concavity and a shaft at the bottom and gabled at the top with three panels with engraved inscriptions. The uppermost panel contains a text commemorating Matuszyński in French: " Ici repose Jean Edouard Alexandre Matuszyński / docteur en médicine / chevalier de l'ordre militaire de Pologne / né à Varsovie le 14 décembre 1808. Décédé à Paris le 20 avril 1842 / Le terre est un exil. La vie est une songe. Le ciel est notre patrie" (Here rests Jan Edward Aleksandre Matuszyński / physician / Knight of the Order of the Polish Army / born in Warsaw on 14 December 1808. Died in Paris on 20 April 1842 / Earth is an exile. Life is a dream. Heaven is our homeland).

Location of gravestone: Quarter 25, row 1 avenue Travot, grave 8 avenue Montmorency