An “odyssey of freedom”, in the words of the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron. The coffins of the communist resistance fighter Missak Manouchian, a stateless poet of Armenian origin, and his wife Mélinée, passed together this Wednesday, February 21, through the doors of the Pantheon, temple of the great figures of the Nation.
Twenty-three comrades in arms, most of them shot with him on February 21, 1944, also entered in a symbolic way, 80 years later to the day: their names will be engraved in the vault where the Manouchians will rest. Emmanuel Macron saluted “these 24 names”, and with them, “the whole procession of FTP-MOI, confined in oblivion for too long”. “All of them are now recognized as having died for France. The France of 2024 had to honor those who were France 24 times over,” paid tribute to the Head of State, under the eyes of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
“He wanted to be a poet, he became a shadow soldier”
“This odyssey, that of Manouchian and all his comrades in arms, is also ours. An odyssey of freedom and its indelible part in the heart of our nation,” celebrated Emmanuel Macron, who saluted the journey of a “French preferably”, who “decides to die for our nation which nevertheless had refused to fully adopt it”.
After recalling his youth in Armenia then his arrival in France, his literary dreams and his communist commitment, Emmanuel Macron celebrated his journey in the resistance. “When war broke out, Missak Manouchian enlisted. Drunk with freedom and intoxicated with courage, enraged to defend the country which gave him everything,” continued the President of the Republic. “In occupied Paris, Missak Manouchian joined the Communist Resistance within the immigrant workforce, the ME. He wanted to be a poet, he became a shadow soldier.”
Before concluding: “Missak and Mélinée, destinies of Armenia and France. Loves finally rediscovered. Missak, the 23 and with them all the others, finally celebrated. Love and freedom, for eternity.”