Élysée Palace
Encyclopedia
The Élysée Palace is the official residence
of the President of the French Republic
, containing his office, and is where the Council of Ministers meets. It is located near the Champs-Élysées
in Paris
.
Important foreign visitors are hosted at the nearby Hôtel de Marigny
, a palatial residence. The Élysée has gardens, in which the president hosts a party on the afternoon of Bastille Day
. Nicolas Sarkozy
, the President of France since 2007, is the current resident.
), and backing onto royal property, the Grand Cours through the Champs-Élysées
. He sold this in 1718 to Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne
, comte d'Évreux
(families: ducs and princes de Bouillon et Sedan: de la Marck
| von der Marck), with the agreement that Mollet would construct an hôtel particulier
for the count, fronted by an entrance court
and backed by a garden. The Hôtel d'Évreux was finished and decorated by 1722, and though it has undergone many modifications since, it remains a fine example of the French classical
style. At the time of his death in 1753, Évreux was the owner of one of the most widely admired houses in Paris, and it was bought by King Louis XV as a residence for the Marquise de Pompadour, his mistress. Opponents showed their distaste for the regime by hanging signs on the gates that read: "Home of the King's whore". After her death, it reverted to the crown.
In 1773, it was purchased by Nicolas Beaujon
, banker to the Court and one of the richest men in France, who needed a suitably sumptuous "country house" (for the city of Paris did not yet extend this far) to house his fabulous collection of great masters paintings. To this end, he hired the architect Étienne-Louis Boullée
to make substantial alterations to the buildings (as well as design an English-style garden). Soon on display there were such well-known masterpieces as Holbein's
The Ambassadors (now in the National Gallery in London
), and Frans Hals
' Bohemian (now at the Louvre
). His architectural alterations and art galleries gave this residence international renown as "one of the premier houses of Paris".
The palace and gardens were purchased from Beaujon by Bathilde, duchesse de Bourbon
in 1787 for 1,300,000 livres. It was the Duchess who named it the Élysée. She also built a group of cottages in the gardens which she named the Hameau de Chantilly
, after the Hameau
at her Château de Chantilly
. With the French Revolution
, the Duchess fled the country and the Élysée was confiscated. It was leased out. The gardens were used for eating, drinking, and dancing, under the name Hameau de Chantilly; and the rooms became gambling houses.
In 1803, the Élysée was sold to Joachim Murat
, and in 1808, to the Emperor
, and it became known as the Élysée-Napoléon. After the Battle of Waterloo
, Napoléon returned to the Élysée, signed his abdication
there on 22 June 1815, and left the Élysée on the 25th.
Russian Cossacks camped at the Élysée when they occupied Paris in 1814.
Though it was first officially used by the government of Napoléon Bonaparte
, the Hôtel d'Évreux was formally purchased for Louis XVIII
in 1816. Under the provisional government of the Second Republic, it took the name of the Élysée National and was designated the official residence of the President of the Republic. (The President also has the use of several other official residences, including the Château de Rambouillet
, forty five kilometres southwest of Paris, and the Fort de Brégançon
near Marseille
.)
In 1853, following his coup d'état that ended the Second Republic, Napoléon III
charged the architect Joseph-Eugène Lacroix with renovations; meanwhile he moved to the nearby Tuileries Palace
, but kept the Élysée as a discreet place to meet his mistresses, moving between the two palaces through a secret underground passage that has since been demolished. Since Lacroix completed his work in 1867, the essential look of the Palais de l'Élysée has remained the same.
In 1873, during the Third Republic
, The Élysée became the official presidential residence.
In 1917, an orangutan
escaped from a nearby ménagerie
, entered the palace and was said to have tried to haul the wife of President Raymond Poincaré
into a tree only to be foiled by Élysée guards. President Paul Deschanel
, who resigned in 1920 because of mental illness, was said to have been so impressed by the orangutan's feat that, to the alarm of his guests, he took to jumping into trees during state receptions.
The Élysée Palace was closed in June 1940, and remained empty during World War II
. It was reoccupied only in 1946 by Vincent Auriol
, President of the Provisional Government
, then first President of the Fourth Republic
from 1947 to 1954.
Between 1959 and 1969, the Élysée was occupied by Charles de Gaulle
, the first President of the Fifth Republic. De Gaulle did not like its lack of privacy, and oversaw the purchase of the luxurious Hôtel de Marigny
to lodge foreign State officials in visit to France, saying, "I do not like the idea of meeting kings walking around my corridors in their pyjamas."
Socialist President François Mitterrand
, who governed from 1981 to 1995, is said to have seldom used its private apartments, preferring the privacy of his own home on the more bohemian
Left Bank. A discreet flat in the Élysée housed his mistress Anne Pingeot
, mother of his illegitimate daughter Mazarine Pingeot
.
By contrast, his successor Jacques Chirac
lived throughout his two terms in office (1995–2007) in the Élysée apartments with his wife Bernadette
.
Chirac increased the Palace's budget by 105% to 90 million euros per year, according to the book L'argent caché de l'Élysée. One million euros per year is spent on drinks alone for the guests invited to the Élysée Palace, 6.9 million euros per year on bonuses for presidential staff and 6.1 million euros per year on the 145 extra employees Chirac hired after he was elected in 1995.
Chirac's successor Nicolas Sarkozy
prefers his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's house in Paris XVI to the Élysée palace.
Official residence
An official residence is the residence at which heads of state, heads of government, gubernatorial or other senior figures officially reside...
of the President of the French Republic
President of the French Republic
The President of the French Republic colloquially referred to in English as the President of France, is France's elected Head of State....
, containing his office, and is where the Council of Ministers meets. It is located near the Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Important foreign visitors are hosted at the nearby Hôtel de Marigny
Hôtel de Marigny
The Hôtel de Marigny is a town house in Paris, France, on the Avenue Marigny, not far from the Elysée Palace. It is used as a residence for state visitors to France. The house has been the property of the French government since 1972...
, a palatial residence. The Élysée has gardens, in which the president hosts a party on the afternoon of Bastille Day
Bastille Day
Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July of each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale and commonly le quatorze juillet...
. Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
, the President of France since 2007, is the current resident.
History
The architect Armand-Claude Mollet possessed a property fronting on the road to the village of Roule, west of Paris (now the Rue du Faubourg Saint-HonoréRue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
The rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré is a street in Paris, France. Although relatively narrow and nondescript , it is cited as being one of the most fashionable streets in the world, thanks to the presence of virtually every major global fashion house...
), and backing onto royal property, the Grand Cours through the Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...
. He sold this in 1718 to Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne
Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne
Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne was a French nobleman and member of the House of La Tour d'Auvergne. Given the title comte d'Évreux at birth, he later became a lieutenant of the King's armies. He is sometimes called Henri Louis...
, comte d'Évreux
Évreux
Évreux is a commune in the Eure department, of which it is the capital, in Haute Normandie in northern France.-History:In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century CE, was named Mediolanum Aulercorum, "the central town of the Aulerci", the Gallic tribe then inhabiting the area...
(families: ducs and princes de Bouillon et Sedan: de la Marck
De la Marck
The House of La Marck, , original German name von der Mark, was an important family in the history of Europe, which from about 1200 appeared as the Counts of Mark.-History:...
| von der Marck), with the agreement that Mollet would construct an hôtel particulier
Hôtel particulier
In French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
for the count, fronted by an entrance court
Cour d'Honneur
Cour d'Honneur is the architectural term for defining a three-sided courtyard, created when the main central block, or corps de logis, is flanked by symmetrical advancing secondary wings, containing minor rooms...
and backed by a garden. The Hôtel d'Évreux was finished and decorated by 1722, and though it has undergone many modifications since, it remains a fine example of the French classical
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
style. At the time of his death in 1753, Évreux was the owner of one of the most widely admired houses in Paris, and it was bought by King Louis XV as a residence for the Marquise de Pompadour, his mistress. Opponents showed their distaste for the regime by hanging signs on the gates that read: "Home of the King's whore". After her death, it reverted to the crown.
In 1773, it was purchased by Nicolas Beaujon
Nicolas Beaujon
Nicolas Beaujon was a wealthy French banker at the Court of King Louis XV. The portrait of Nicolas Beaujon seen here was painted by Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun in 1784.-Youth and Early Career:...
, banker to the Court and one of the richest men in France, who needed a suitably sumptuous "country house" (for the city of Paris did not yet extend this far) to house his fabulous collection of great masters paintings. To this end, he hired the architect Étienne-Louis Boullée
Étienne-Louis Boullée
Étienne-Louis Boullée was a visionary French neoclassical architect whose work greatly influenced contemporary architects and is still influential today.- Life :...
to make substantial alterations to the buildings (as well as design an English-style garden). Soon on display there were such well-known masterpieces as Holbein's
Hans Holbein the Younger
Hans Holbein the Younger was a German artist and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He also produced religious art, satire and Reformation propaganda, and made a significant contribution to the history...
The Ambassadors (now in the National Gallery in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
), and Frans Hals
Frans Hals
Frans Hals was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He is notable for his loose painterly brushwork, and helped introduce this lively style of painting into Dutch art. Hals was also instrumental in the evolution of 17th century group portraiture.-Biography:Hals was born in 1580 or 1581, in Antwerp...
' Bohemian (now at the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
). His architectural alterations and art galleries gave this residence international renown as "one of the premier houses of Paris".
The palace and gardens were purchased from Beaujon by Bathilde, duchesse de Bourbon
Bathilde d'Orléans
Louise Marie Thérèse Bathilde d'Orléans, Princess of Condé , was a French princess. She was sister of Philippe Égalité, the mother of the executed duc d'Enghien and aunt of Louis-Philippe King of the French...
in 1787 for 1,300,000 livres. It was the Duchess who named it the Élysée. She also built a group of cottages in the gardens which she named the Hameau de Chantilly
Hameau de Chantilly (Paris)
The Hameau de Chantilly in Paris was a group of cottages in the gardens of the Élysée Palace in Paris constructed by Bathilde, duchesse de Bourbon in 1787 in imitation of the Hameau de Chantilly at the Château de Chantilly, her principal residence.With the Revolution, she left the Élysée in 1792,...
, after the Hameau
Hameau de Chantilly
The Hameau de Chantilly is a folly in the park of the Château de Chantilly built in 1774 and consisting of seven rustic thatched cottages with luxurious interiors set in a garden....
at her Château de Chantilly
Château de Chantilly
The Château de Chantilly is a historic château located in the town of Chantilly, France. It comprises two attached buildings; the Grand Château, destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s, and the Petit Château which was built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency...
. With the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, the Duchess fled the country and the Élysée was confiscated. It was leased out. The gardens were used for eating, drinking, and dancing, under the name Hameau de Chantilly; and the rooms became gambling houses.
In 1803, the Élysée was sold to Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
, and in 1808, to the Emperor
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
, and it became known as the Élysée-Napoléon. After the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, Napoléon returned to the Élysée, signed his abdication
Abdication
Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...
there on 22 June 1815, and left the Élysée on the 25th.
Russian Cossacks camped at the Élysée when they occupied Paris in 1814.
Though it was first officially used by the government of Napoléon Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
, the Hôtel d'Évreux was formally purchased for Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
in 1816. Under the provisional government of the Second Republic, it took the name of the Élysée National and was designated the official residence of the President of the Republic. (The President also has the use of several other official residences, including the Château de Rambouillet
Château de Rambouillet
The château de Rambouillet is a castle in the town of Rambouillet, Yvelines department, in the Île-de-France region in northern France, southwest of Paris...
, forty five kilometres southwest of Paris, and the Fort de Brégançon
Fort de Brégançon
The fort de Brégançon is the official retreat for the President of France. The fort is built on a small abrupt island, off the Mediterranean coast which is connected by a short pier, on the French commune of Bormes-les-Mimosas in Var department....
near Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
.)
In 1853, following his coup d'état that ended the Second Republic, Napoléon III
Napoleon III of France
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte...
charged the architect Joseph-Eugène Lacroix with renovations; meanwhile he moved to the nearby Tuileries Palace
Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace was a royal palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed in the upheaval during the suppression of the Paris Commune...
, but kept the Élysée as a discreet place to meet his mistresses, moving between the two palaces through a secret underground passage that has since been demolished. Since Lacroix completed his work in 1867, the essential look of the Palais de l'Élysée has remained the same.
In 1873, during the Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
, The Élysée became the official presidential residence.
In 1917, an orangutan
Orangutan
Orangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...
escaped from a nearby ménagerie
Menagerie
A menagerie is/was a form of keeping common and exotic animals in captivity that preceded the modern zoological garden. The term was first used in seventeenth century France in reference to the management of household or domestic stock. Later, it came to be used primarily in reference to...
, entered the palace and was said to have tried to haul the wife of President Raymond Poincaré
Raymond Poincaré
Raymond Poincaré was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France on five separate occasions and as President of France from 1913 to 1920. Poincaré was a conservative leader primarily committed to political and social stability...
into a tree only to be foiled by Élysée guards. President Paul Deschanel
Paul Deschanel
Paul Eugène Louis Deschanel was a French statesman. He served as President of France from 18 February 1920 to 21 September 1920.-Biography:...
, who resigned in 1920 because of mental illness, was said to have been so impressed by the orangutan's feat that, to the alarm of his guests, he took to jumping into trees during state receptions.
The Élysée Palace was closed in June 1940, and remained empty during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was reoccupied only in 1946 by Vincent Auriol
Vincent Auriol
Vincent Jules Auriol was a French politician who served as the first President of the Fourth Republic from 1947 to 1954. He also served as interim President of the Provisional Government from November to December 1946, making him one of only three people who were heads of state of the French...
, President of the Provisional Government
Provisional Government of the French Republic
The Provisional Government of the French Republic was an interim government which governed France from 1944 to 1946, following the fall of Vichy France and prior to the Fourth French Republic....
, then first President of the Fourth Republic
French Fourth Republic
The French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems...
from 1947 to 1954.
Between 1959 and 1969, the Élysée was occupied by Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
, the first President of the Fifth Republic. De Gaulle did not like its lack of privacy, and oversaw the purchase of the luxurious Hôtel de Marigny
Hôtel de Marigny
The Hôtel de Marigny is a town house in Paris, France, on the Avenue Marigny, not far from the Elysée Palace. It is used as a residence for state visitors to France. The house has been the property of the French government since 1972...
to lodge foreign State officials in visit to France, saying, "I do not like the idea of meeting kings walking around my corridors in their pyjamas."
Socialist President François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
, who governed from 1981 to 1995, is said to have seldom used its private apartments, preferring the privacy of his own home on the more bohemian
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
Left Bank. A discreet flat in the Élysée housed his mistress Anne Pingeot
Anne Pingeot
Anne Pingeot was the mistress of François Mitterrand, the former President of the French Republic. Together they had a daughter, Mazarine Pingeot....
, mother of his illegitimate daughter Mazarine Pingeot
Mazarine Pingeot
Mazarine Marie Pingeot , who changed her name to Mazarine Marie Pingeot-Mitterrand in 2005, is a writer, journalist and professor.-Life:...
.
By contrast, his successor Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
lived throughout his two terms in office (1995–2007) in the Élysée apartments with his wife Bernadette
Bernadette Chirac
Bernadette Thérèse Marie Chirac is a French politician and the wife of the former President Jacques Chirac....
.
Chirac increased the Palace's budget by 105% to 90 million euros per year, according to the book L'argent caché de l'Élysée. One million euros per year is spent on drinks alone for the guests invited to the Élysée Palace, 6.9 million euros per year on bonuses for presidential staff and 6.1 million euros per year on the 145 extra employees Chirac hired after he was elected in 1995.
Chirac's successor Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
prefers his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's house in Paris XVI to the Élysée palace.