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Robert Badinter Enshrined at the Panthéon as Macron Vows to Carry His Fight

The ceremony framed his legacy in Enlightenment ideals anchored in the rule of law.

Overview

  • Badinter was inducted on October 9 in a solemn state ceremony and placed in the Panthéon’s “revolutionaries of 1789” vault alongside Condorcet, Abbé Grégoire and Gaspard Monge.
  • A cenotaph now represents him with his lawyer’s robe, a copy of his 1981 abolition speech and selected books, rather than a transfer of his remains.
  • President Emmanuel Macron pledged to push for the universal abolition of the death penalty and to confront antisemitism while defending the rule of law.
  • The program featured readings of Badinter’s pleas, a Victor Hugo text read by actor Guillaume Gallienne and a performance by Julien Clerc, with texts chosen by Élisabeth Badinter.
  • Hours before the ceremony, his grave in Bagneux was defaced with hostile inscriptions, rapidly cleaned with access restored, and a police investigation was opened by the Hauts-de-Seine territorial unit.