Famous Montalbanais

The last of the French neoclassical painters, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres invented an atypical, Mannerist canon of feminine beauty that made him famous. His masterpiece, La Grande Odalisque (1814), is as much a part of the history of Orientalism as it is of the tradition of the great masters of Western painting. A skilled draughtsman, admirer of Raphael and adept at pure line, Ingres was so influential that other artists, such as Pablo Picasso, came to draw inspiration from his style in what is known as “ingrism” or the “ingresque period”. His passion and talent for the violin inspired the expression “to have an Ingres violin”.

Born in Montauban at 6 rue de l’Hôtel de Ville, a stone’s throw from the museum that now bears his name, Antoine Bourdelle showed an early aptitude for drawing and sculpture at the age of 13. A pupil of the sculptor Falguière at the Beaux Arts de Paris, Bourdelle soon became a practitioner in Rodin’s studio, collaborating with the Master for 15 years. His most striking work is Héraclès archer (1910), the original plaster of which is on display at the Musée Ingres Bourdelle in Montauban. 13 of the artist’s sculptures are freely on display in the town center. Bourdelle’s art is also recognized in Paris, with the Musée Bourdelle and a Jardin-Musée in Egreville (77). For the nostalgic, Bourdelle also inspired the “Héraklès” brand of notebooks for schoolchildren.

Hugues Panassié is a French jazz critic and producer. A pioneer in the development of jazz in France, he was an admirer of the early forms of jazz, the “hot” style, as played by Louis Armstrong in the 1930s and all the musicians and singers of the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Although he has made a major contribution to the documentation of early jazz, his ideas are controversial. His traditionalism led him to regard bebop as a form of music distinct from jazz, vigorously rejecting it as “unauthentic”, sparking numerous controversies and a split in the Hot Club de France.

Marcel-Lenoir was a true artist, a jeweler, draftsman, painter and fresco artist. In 1889, at the age of 17, Marcel-Lenoir, on the advice of his father, headed for Paris. After a period of poverty, around 1900, he achieved his first successes and became the Marcel-Lenoir illuminator. A complex, bewitching, fiercely independent character, incapable of compromise with the critics and the art market, he owes his success today solely to the intrinsic quality of his work. A museum dedicated to his work can be found in Montricoux (82).

French painter, sculptor and lithographer. Marked by the horrors of the First World War, he entered the Arts Décoratifs in Paris and exhibited his first series of color lithographs. Influenced by Fauvist painters such as Gauguin, he spent most of his life in the Pyrénées Orientales, notably Saint-Cyprien, to which he bequeathed most of his works on his death. The Saint-Cyprien Collections can be visited today, with the famous painter as its figurehead.

Étienne Roda-Gil wrote over 747 songs. Julien Clerc, France Gall and Vanessa Paradis owe their greatest hits to him. He is notably the lyricist of Alexandrie, Alexandra, arguably Claude François’ greatest hit.

Renowned in the world of French chanson, he has left his mark on our cultural heritage with a number of masterpieces. Juliette Gréco said of him: “I quickly understood that he was a human being, which is not so often the case.

Son of the owner of the Poult cookie factory in Montalban, young Adolphe distinguished himself during the flood of the century in March 1930. Using his courage alone, he saved dozens of people from drowning in a simple canoe on the flooded Tarn. After almost a full day of saving lives, it was during one of these rescues that Adolphe Poult stumbled in the tumultuous waters and was unable to return to his boat. He drowned at the age of 34. A square bears his name in Montauban, where a bust pays tribute to him.

Monsignor Pierre-Marie Théas (1894 – 1977), Righteous among the Righteous. Bishop of Montauban in 1940, he acted as spiritual guide to Manuel Azana, a Republican and President of the Spanish Republic in 1936, in exile, hunted down by Franco’s regime. He was outraged by the roundup on August 26, and published a pastoral letter on ” respect for the human person “, which was read “without comment” on Sunday May 30, 1942 by most of the diocese’s courageous priests.

Marie-Rose Gineste (1911 – 2010). Official secretary to Monseigneur Théas, she helped refugees, and contributed to the development of a spirit of resistance through reflection and debate. She collected vital information for resistance fighters in the field, and provided help and sanctuary to all those hunted down by the Gestapo, whatever their origins or political or ideological affiliation. Marie-Rose Gineste is a Righteous Woman, and her bicycle is on display in a Jerusalem museum.

Raised by the Jesuits, Jeanbon Saint-André was a French navigator who left his mark on French history during the French Revolution . Indeed, history credits him with the creation of the famous tricolor flag. On February 15, 1794, Jeanbon Saint-André was a member of the Comité de Salut Public, responsible in particular for the navy, and had it decreed that “the national flag will be made up of the three national colors, arranged in vertical bands, so that the blue will be attached to the shoulder of the flag, the white in the middle and the red floating in the air”. His grave is in Mainz, Germany, and is still well cared for.

Janine Garrisson is a French historian, professor of modern history and novelist, specializing in 16th-century French political and religious history, with a particular focus on Protestantism.

Most of her research has focused on Protestantism in France. Her thesis, Protestants du Midi: 1559-1598 , was defended in 1977. She has been awarded the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres.

Caroline Aigle is a fighter pilot and commander in the French Air Force. She was the first woman fighter pilot to be assigned to an Air Force combat squadron.

An accomplished sportswoman and outstanding pilot, the town of Montauban has paid tribute to her by installing a helicopter on a roundabout at the city gates.