() is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

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 ar ...

. It is located from the center of Paris, between

Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, ), also known as Roissy Airport or simply Paris CDG, is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris ( and its metropolitan area), and the largest intern ...

and le Bourget Airport.

Name

The name Le Blanc-Mesnil was recorded for the first time in the 11th century as . This name is a compound of

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used f ...

, meaning 'little houses', from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

(

accusative The accusative case ( abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘th ...

), and of Germanic ( Old Frankish) , , meaning 'glossy, shining, white', which gave French ('white') and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

''blank''. The name is interpreted by some as a reference to the houses of Le Blanc-Mesnil which were whitened due to the flour dust coming from the windmills located there in ancient times. One researcher, however, thinks that had also the meaning of 'free' in

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligi ...

, and so the name would mean 'free mesnil, free village', perhaps because the villagers had been freed from

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develo ...

. None of these interpretations is certain.

Geography

Nearest municipalities

Bondy Bondy () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Seine-Saint-Denis department. In 2019, it had a population of 54,587. Name The name Bondy was recorded for the first time arou ...

Aulnay-sous-Bois Aulnay-sous-Bois () is a commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department in the Île-de-France region in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aulnaysiens'' ...

Drancy Drancy () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris in the Seine-Saint-Denis department in northern France. It is located 10.8 km (6.7 mi) from the center of Paris. History Toponymy The name Drancy comes from Medieval Lat ...

Le Bourget Le Bourget () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The commune features Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hosts the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Air and Space Museum). A very ...

Dugny Dugny () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. About a third of Le Bourget airport lies on the territory of the commune of Dugny, including its main terminal and the '' Musée de l' ...

Bonneuil-en-France Bonneuil-en-France (, literally ''Bonneuil in France'') is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. Le Bourget Airport is partially located in the commune. Geography Climate Bonneuil-en-France has a oceani ...

in Val d'Oise and Gonesse.

History

French Revolution

On 2 December 1792, a third of the territory of Aulnay was detached and became the commune of .

Heraldry

Economy

* * in Blanc-Mesnil, Bourget and

. It includes ''Centre Albert Einstein'', created in 1987. * * Garonor * * * * , for tourism business. Three hotels three stars, a Novotel hotel.

French and international companies

Several French companies have their world headquarters in Blanc-Mesnil, such as Forclum and Sicli.

Population

Immigration

Administration

Political life

The following political parties have a permanent base in Blanc-Mesnil: *

Parti Communiste Français The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

* Parti Socialiste *

Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy (french: Union pour la démocratie française, UDF) was a centre to centre-right political party in France. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order ...

(UDF) *

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right political party in France that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-left Soci ...

(UMP) * Groupe des Verts

Politics

Mayors

Transport

Le Blanc-Mesnil is served by

Le Blanc-Mesnil () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris, between Charles de Gaulle Airport and le Bourget Airport. Name The name Le Blanc-Mesnil was recorded for the first time in the 11th centur ...

station on Paris RER line B. Le Blanc-Mesnil is also served by

station on Paris RER line B. This station (formerly called ), although administratively located on the territory of the neighboring commune of

, is the closest from the town center of Le Blanc-Mesnil and is thus used by people in Le Blanc-Mesnil. The bus company provides 17 lines of buses to travel within the city. Ideally placed at the junction between the A1 and the A3. from Le Bourget airport, from

and from , one can easily get to and Disneyland as well as the centre of Paris and the .

Religion

Catholic churches: , , . Evangelic churches:

Education

The commune has the following schools: four preschools in the south, seven preschools in the centre of town, and six preschools in the north. It has four elementary schools in the south, six elementary schools in the centre, and six elementary schools in the north. Junior high schools: * * * * Senior high schools: * * * The

Jacques Prévert Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the poetic realist movemen ...

serves as the municipal library.

Environment

Parks and gardens

* Jacques-Duclos Park * Vineyards produces , a

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new ...

* Vegetal wall of Forum culturel by

Patrick Blanc Patrick Blanc (born June 3, 1953, Paris) is a French botanist who works at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, where he specializes in plants from tropical forests. He is the modern innovator of the green wall, specifically, ...

* * * Square Stalingrad

Sports

Blanc-Mesnil Sports (BMS), founded in 2005, is the city's sport club.

International relations

Le Blanc-Mesnil is twinned with:Le Blanc-Mesnil official site
Les jumelages *

Sandwell Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands county in England. The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation. According to Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Counci ...

in the West Midlands region of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, * Peterhof in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

, *

Debre Berhan Debre Birhan () is a city in central Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of Amhara Region, about 120 kilometers north east of Addis Ababa on Ethiopian highway 2, the town has an elevation of 2,840 meters, which makes it the highest t ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...

, * Beni Douala in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

. For fifteen years, twinning between le Blanc-Mesnil and Debre Berhan has been based on the development: water sanitation, education, construction of roads. In a rare spirit, that of a collaboration of equal to equal.

Personalities

* Jérémy Abadie, footballer * Adil Aouchiche, footballer * Amara Baby, footballer * Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, hockey player *

Jonathan Biabiany Jonathan Ludovic Biabiany (born 28 April 1988) is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger for Spanish club San Fernando. During the most notable period of his career (between 2008 and 2014), he was regarded as one of the faste ...

, footballer * Jean-Felix Dorothee, footballer *

Abdou Doumbia Abdou Doumbia (born 7 June 1990) is a French footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club Pergolettese. Career Born in France with French father and Malian mother, Doumbia spent most of his youth career in a suburb of Paris. He started ...

, footballer * Morgaro Gomis, footballer * Raphaël Guerreiro, footballer *

Sylvie Guillem Sylvie Guillem (; born 23 February 1965) is a French ballet dancer. Guillem was the top-ranking female dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet from 1984 to 1989, before becoming a principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London. She has p ...

, star dancer at Paris Opera *

Patrick Hernandez Patrick Pierre Hernandez (born 6 April 1949) is a French singer who had a worldwide hit with " Born to Be Alive" in 1979. Biography Born to a Spanish father and an Italian mother in Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis, Hernandez grew up in t ...

, famous singer of

Born to Be Alive ''Born to Be Alive'' is the first studio album by Patrick Hernandez, released internationally in 1978 and in the US in 1979. It features the eponymous disco hit " Born to Be Alive" as well as a less-successful single, "Disco Queen". Background ...

Mickael Marolany Mickael Marolany (born 13 April 1975 in Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis) is a French former professional footballer who played as a full-back. He made 116 appearances in Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sp ...

, footballer *

Fabien Marsaud Fabien Marsaud (born 31 July 1977), known professionally as Grand Corps Malade (GCM), is a French slam poet and lyricist. He has released seven studio albums so far, all of them reaching top-five status on the French SNEP chart. GCM started ...

, known as Grand Corps Malade, slam poet * Fabrice N'Sakala, footballer *

Moussa Sissoko Moussa Sissoko (born 16 August 1989) is a French professional footballer who plays as midfielder for club Nantes and the France national team. He plays as a box-to-box midfielder in the centre of the pitch, and is capable of playing in eith ...

, footballer *

Ludovic Sylvestre Ludovic Sylvestre (born 5 February 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the sporting director at Red Star. Club career Youth career Born in the commune of Le Blanc-Mesnil in Seine-Saint-Denis, as a ...

, footballer * Tristan Valentin, road bicycle racer * Élisabeth Vonarburg, writer of science-fiction

References

Bibliography

* ''Le Blanc-Mesnil et son passé'', Ernest Soitel, 1969. * ''Histoire anecdotique de Blanc-Mesnil'', Albert Galicier, 1973. * ''Le Blanc-Mesnil des temps modernes : 1935-1985'', 1986. * ''Le Blanc-Mesnil'',

Pierre Bourgeade Pierre Bourgeade (7 November 1927 – 12 March 2009) was a French man of letters, playwright, poet, writer, director, journalist, literary critic and photographer. A descendant of Jean Racine, he was also the brother-in-law of the writer Paule Co ...

, Gilles Smadja, Jean-Pierre Vallorani, Françoise Vasseur, 1992. * ''Le Blanc-Mesnil : citoyens de demain'', Patrick Laigre et Jocelyne Héquet, 1993. * ''Le Blanc-Mesnil : 2000 regards'', Photographies de Luc Choquer, François Crignon, Erwan Guillard, 1999. * ''Le Blanc-Mesnil'', Christian Massart, 2005. * ''Twinning between Le Blanc-Mesnil and Debré-Berhan'' (in English and French).

External links

Official website

Forum culturel

Blog du Forum culturel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blancmesnil Communes of Seine-Saint-Denis

Name

Geography

Nearest municipalities

History

French Revolution

Heraldry

Economy

French and international companies

Population

Immigration

Administration

Political life

Politics

Mayors

Transport

Religion

Education

Environment

Parks and gardens

Sports

International relations

Personalities

See also

References

Bibliography

External links