Marc Bloch and Simonne Vidal Enter the Panthéon

Overview

• The panthéonization, which took place Tuesday, June 23, 2026, installed cenotaphs for Marc Bloch and his wife Simonne Vidal in caveau n°13 of the Panthéon.
• President Emmanuel Macron presided over the ceremony and framed Bloch as a republican conscience, using his writings to denounce a modern 'spirit of defeat' and to call for vigilance against antisemitism.
• The Bloch family required that no remains be moved and asked to exclude far-right participation, a request publicly acknowledged as Marine Le Pen and other leading far-right figures were absent.
• The two cenotaphs contain symbolic objects selected by the family, including medals, Marc Bloch’s 1941 testament, family letters, photographs, a poem and a page from Apologie pour l'histoire, while Bloch’s body remains at Bourg-d'Hem and Simonne’s remains were never found.
• Coverage mixed ceremony detail and political debate, noting that Bloch is the first historian formally entered at the Panthéon and that this sixth Macron-led ceremony brings his total to nine figures, equalling François Mitterrand’s number of panthéonization events.