What would the City of Light be without one of its Enlightenment luminaries? For 18 months concerned Parisians have missed a statue of philosopher and historian Voltaire, which disappeared from its plinth in August 2020 during a wave of statue-toppling around the world.
Rumours spread that Voltaire – real name François-Marie Arouet – was a victim of “cancel culture”, removed by politically correct City Hall officials because, while he wrote denouncing slavery, he owed part of his fortune to colonial-era trade and has been accused of racism and antisemitism.
Rightwing commentators were outraged. Had the Paris authorities followed the example of the city’s Nazi occupiers, under whose regime the original bronze of Voltaire was removed in 1941 and melted down?
Jean-Pierre Lecoq, mayor of Paris’s 6th arrondissement, said at the time: “I demand the return of Voltaire to the Square Honoré-Champion.”
Now deputy Paris mayor Karen Taïeb, has said the statue will be back on a pedestal “some time this year”, adding that it was found to be in need of restoration, having been vandalised and damaged not only by the paint but by the elements. “It has now undergone a little cosmetic surgery in that we have redone the nose, which was almost eroded away,” Taïeb said.
However, Voltaire will not return to his plinth close to the Seine’s left bank just behind the prestigious Académie des Beaux-Arts. Instead, the statue, by sculptor Léon-Ernest Drivier, will be placed under arches in the university medical school, half a mile away. “Taïeb said: “We thought about installing it on the Quai Voltaire, but the conservation people said no because it’s very polluted there.” “The experts say that if we leave it outside it will be damaged further; even the rain could lead to its deterioration.”
She added that in the new site the statue would be protected from the elements but still visible to the public: “I can understand people being worried about the statue because it was removed at a time of a lot of news about statues. I don’t know if the motivations of those who damaged the statue were political, but our only motivation is conservation. The City of Light will continue to have its man of Enlightenment.”
Neither the culture ministry nor Lecoq responded to questions.
In 1878 a bronze statue of Voltaire was commissioned to mark the 100th anniversary of his death, and placed on Quai Malaquais. It was melted down during the second world war. The Drivier version was placed in Square Honoré Champion in 1962.
Prof Matthew Fraser of the American University of Paris, whose forthcoming book Monumental Fury: The History of Iconoclasm and the Future of Our Past examines statue toppling, said: “It’s sad to see Voltaire moved … the statue was placed there for a reason: Voltaire died nearby on what is now Quai Voltaire. Also, it was only a few dozen yards from the original bronze statue that was demolished and melted down by the Nazis, who despised Voltaire for his Enlightenment ideals.”
French president Emmanuel Macron has said France will not be toppling any historical statues. “The Republic won’t erase any name from its history,” he said in June 2020. “We should look at all of our history together with lucidity.”