Les Champeaux cemetery in Montmorency near Paris is a special place for Poland. It is called the Pantheon of Polish Emigration. It contains the graves of many eminent Poles - politicians, social activists, scientists and people of culture. They include such people as Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Karol Otton Kniaziewicz, Olga Boznańska, Bolesław Biegas, Tadeusz Makowski, Cyprian Godebski, Roman Palester, Cyprian Kamil Norwid, who rests in a mass grave, or Adam Mickiewicz, whose ashes were transferred to Wawel in 1890.

Work carried out in 2023

In 2023, work continued on the tomb of Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz and Karol Kniaziewicz in order to restore, in structural and architectural terms, the state before the last two renovations.

The tomb is in the form of a band, inside which limestone covering slabs rest on individual tumuli. Due to the trimming of the original slabs, these needed to be supplemented. This was the next stage of the work and one of the more important stages of the project.

The first stage of conservation work also began on the tombstone of Kazimierz Szwykowski and the tombstone of Władysław Strzecki.

Work to be carried out in 2022

In 2022, the Polonica Institute began the first stage of work on the double tombstone of Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz and Karol Kniaziewicz.

The secondary marble slabs covering the limestone slabs and the base stones have been dismantled, and the secondary build-ups on the tombstone are being removed around the grave tumuli. The foundation for the grave frame has been made so as to raise it by approximately 15 cm. The metal fencing has also been dismantled and transported to the studio for preservation. The covering slabs are in a very poor state of preservation and the installation of the cladding was carried out with inappropriate materials, at a time when the covering slabs were wet. Ultimately, the dismantled tombstone slabs will be restored after technical and then conservation work has been carried out.

In addition, work continues on the Jaroszyński chapel. Cleaning of the chapel façade is being carried out this year.

The tombstone of Bronisława Królikowska has undergone complete conservation and restoration.

Executor: Society for the Care of Polish Historical Monuments and Graves in France.

Works carried out in 2021.

The year 2021 has been established by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland as the Norwid Year. In Montmorency, the Polonica Institute carried out comprehensive work on the symbolic tomb of Cyprian Kamil Norwid, who died in 1883.

The tombstone consists of a stone slab and a stele with a medallion (made by Kazimierz Węglewski). The object was subjected to conservation in 2007, but since then its condition has deteriorated so much that the work had to be carried out again.

In addition, conservation work continues on the tombstone of the Mickiewicz family. Restoration and conservation work is underway on the limestone base stones and the covering slab, as well as on the metal fence fixed in the base stones. After dismantling the tombstone, it became clear that the steel structure supporting the tombstone stele needed to be completely replaced.

The third object in need of conservation is the tombstone of Franciszek Stępiński. The stone stele with its bronze cast medallion is heavily tilted and requires urgent conservation work, which is being carried out according to schedule.

Executor: the Society for the Care of Polish Historical Monuments and Graves in France.

Work carried out in 2020.

In 2020, conservation works (stage II) continued on the neo-Gothic Jaroszyński chapel, which included making incisions in the stone wall structure, replacing the corroded staples connecting the blocks with fibreglass staples, and carrying out grouting and filling of cavities and pointing.

The restoration of the cracked stone stele of the Mickiewicz family tomb with a sculpture reflecting the death mask of Adam Mickiewicz (Antoine-Augustin Préault, 1855) was also carried out. After the removal of the medallion, the stele was consolidated and cleaned of build-up. The bronze bas-relief was cleaned of harmful black build-ups, protected against corrosion and re-installed with an elastic bond.

The restoration and conservation of the tombstone of Jan Szymanski and the Suzin-Souzine family was also carried out. The damaged and broken elements of the tombstone needed to be glued together and built from scratch. The inscriptions were also made legible.

Executor: the Society for the Care of Polish Historical Monuments and Graves in France.

Work carried out in 2019.

In 2019, in cooperation with the Society for the Care of Polish Historical Monuments and Tombs in France, conservation work was carried out on the following objects: the neo-Gothic Jaroszynski chapel (first stage of work), the tombs of Jadwiga Ostrozynska, Irena Stokowska, the Makowski family and the tomb of Olga Boznanska.

As part of the work on the chapel, the stone roof and the stained-glass window and entrance grating were conserved, the historical tombstones of Ostrożyńska and Stokowska were cleaned, stabilised and missing stone elements were supplemented. In the gravestone of Olga Boznańska, the stele with the inscription, damaged due to weathering of the stone, was replaced (the archival search showed that the stele was made at the beginning of the 1980s from stone obtained from another gravestone).

Executor: the Society for the Care of Polish Historical Monuments and Graves in France.

Work carried out in 2018.

The conservation work financed in 2018 by the Polonics Institute included two tombstones: those of Bronisław Piłsudski and Helena and Alfred Paderewski. The objects were properly cleaned, cavities filled and protected against degradation due to atmospheric factors. The much simpler Bronisław Piłsudski tombstone had its lettering authenticated, leaving the original spelling intact. It is also worth noting that the wild rose bush growing next to the Paderewski tombstone was not damaged during the works. The plant was brought there by Ignacy Jan Paderewski from his family home and planted after the death of his son Alfred

Executor: Society for the Care of Polish Historical Monuments and Graves in France.

Conservation work carried out between 2018 and 2022, Conservation Programme, Institute Polonica.