Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat (; ) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the Haute-Vienne department in the

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

in west-central

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, on a hill above the river

Vienne Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.Saint Leonard of Noblac Leonard of Noblac (also Leonard of Limoges or Leonard of Noblet; also known as Lienard, Linhart, Leonhard, Léonard, Leonardo, Annard; died 559), is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, in Ha ...

. The commune of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat covers the town Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat and a number of small villages and hamlets, including Lajoumard.

Demographics

Inhabitants are known as ''Miaulétous''.

Sights

Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, Haute-Vienne, population 4766 in 1999, is one of the UNESCO

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

s connected with the routes to Santiago de Compostela. It retains the Romanesque collegial church and its belltower, tall. Dating partly from the 11th century, the church is a listed historic monument. Its old houses follow a medieval street pattern, with many streets converging in a public space by the former abbey church. In the 19th century, a papermill and a porcelain manufactory were added to its commerce. The place is also attracts visitors as an overnight stop on the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

. The town is known for its native son, the scientist

Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (, , ; 6 December 1778 – 9 May 1850) was a French chemist and physicist. He is known mostly for his discovery that water is made of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen (with Alexander von Humboldt), for two laws ...

(1778 – 1850); there is a small museum in his honor.

Notable people

Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat is the hometown of the chemist and physicist,

. Adrien Pressemane, a

porcelain painter China painting, or porcelain painting, is the decoration of glazed porcelain objects such as plates, bowls, vases or statues. The body of the object may be hard-paste porcelain, developed in China in the 7th or 8th century, or soft-paste porcel ...

, lived in the town and represented the district in parliament. Raymond Poulidor, considered by some as the most popular racing cyclist in France, lived in the town. He was known as "the eternal second" of the

after repeatedly losing, often against

Jacques Anquetil Jacques Anquetil (; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964. He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the ye ...

, who won five times. Poulidor later competed against

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...

, who also won five times. Poulidor's best victory was in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

-Sanremo. Serge Gainsbourg, (Lucien Ginzburg) (1928-1991), took refuge a few months during the year 1944 to the local high school, thereby escaping the persecution of Jews (his parents had immigrated from

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

) . A comprehensive article on this stay appears in the journal "Memory of Here" (No. 3). His presence in Saint Léonard - it lasted about 6 months - has long been ignored, to the point of creating a controversy about a street name (2001). Only the Press House now named after the singer. The debate is closed, since the arrival of Serge in Saint-Léonard has been proven by several witnesses. Gilles Deleuze, French philosopher, lived and is buried there. Mario David, of his real name Jacques Paul Jules Marie David, French actor, (1927-1996) was at school here. Georges-Emmanuel Clancier, (1914-2018), French writer and poet. In Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, he met Raymond Queneau and Michel Leiris. Daniel-Henri Kahnweiler (1884-1979), German writer and collector, who promoted the Cubist movement and discovered, among others, Picasso and Braque, took refuge in Saint-Léonard during the war. Philippe de Vomécourt (1902-1964),

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

and

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

(SOE) agent in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. His home was near Noblat. Clémentine Jouassain (1829-1902), actress of the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...

, was born in Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat.

Demographics

Sights

Notable people

See also