Paris in World War II
The atlas holds 20 people and 38 moments here, from 1939 to 1945. The most recorded lives are Édith Piaf, Charles de Gaulle and Albert Camus.
Notable people
Adolf Hitler
in 1940
1 moment here
Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who led the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), became German…
Albert Camus
from 1940 to 1945
3 moments here
French writer, philosopher, journalist, and political activist, born in French Algeria. Camus studied and worked in Algiers, moved between Algeria…
Charles de Gaulle
from 1940 to 1944
3 moments here
French army officer, leader of Free France during the Second World War, head of France's Provisional Government, and president of the French Fifth…
Claude Simon
in 1944
2 moments here
French novelist, painter, photographer, viticulturist, Resistance participant, and 1985 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate.…
Édith Piaf
from 1940 to 1945
8 moments here
French singer and lyricist Édith Giovanna Gassion, known as Édith Piaf, rose from street performance in Paris to international prominence in chanson…
Ernest Hemingway
in 1944
1 moment here
American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. Hemingway’s documented movements ranged from Illinois and Michigan to Italy in World War I,…
Félix Houphouët-Boigny
in 1945
1 moment here
Ivorian physician and politician who became the first president of Côte d’Ivoire, serving from independence in 1960 until his death in 1993.…
Frida Kahlo
in 1939
1 moment here
Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón) was born in Coyoacán and spent much of her life in Mexico City.…
George Orwell
in 1945
1 moment here
George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, an English novelist, essayist, journalist, critic, and democratic socialist.…
Henri Matisse
in 1940
1 moment here
French painter, sculptor, draughtsman, printmaker, and major figure of modern art. Born in Le Cateau-Cambresis, Matisse trained and worked…
Jean-Paul Sartre
from 1941 to 1945
3 moments here
French philosopher, writer, and political activist associated with existentialism. His documented movements include education and teaching across…
Léopold Sédar Senghor
from 1942 to 1944
2 moments here
Senegalese poet, theorist of Négritude, and statesman who became Senegal’s first president in 1960.…
Marguerite Duras
from 1942 to 1944
2 moments here
French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker, born Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu.…
Octavio Paz
in 1945
1 moment here
Mexican poet, essayist, editor, and diplomat whose international postings and teaching appointments connected Mexico City, the United States, Europe,…
Pablo Picasso
in 1940
1 moment here
Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and co-founder of Cubism. Born in Málaga, Picasso trained in A Coruña, Barcelona, and Madrid…
Saint-John Perse
from 1939 to 1940
2 moments here
Saint-John Perse was the pen name of Alexis Léger, a French poet and diplomat. Born in Guadeloupe, he spent formative years in Pau and Bordeaux,…
Sergei Rachmaninoff
in 1939
1 moment here
Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Born in the Novgorod Governorate of the Russian Empire, he studied and worked chiefly in Saint…
Simone de Beauvoir
in 1939
2 moments here
French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Born and died in Paris, Beauvoir studied philosophy in Paris,…
T. S. Eliot
in 1945
1 moment here
Thomas Stearns Eliot was a St. Louis-born poet, critic, editor, and playwright who studied in Massachusetts, Paris, Germany, and Oxford before making…
Winston Churchill
in 1944
1 moment here
Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874–1965) was a British soldier, journalist, author and statesman whose career ranged from imperial campaigns in…
Moments
- 1939 Paris exhibition trip Frida Kahlo
- 1939 Meeting with Ambassador Bullitt during the Danzig crisis Saint-John Perse
- 1939 Teaching at Lycée Camille-Sée Simone de Beauvoir
- 1939 Teaching at Lycée Henri-IV Simone de Beauvoir
- 1939 Final family gathering in Paris before wartime departure Sergei Rachmaninoff
- 1940 Move to Paris for Paris-Soir Albert Camus
- 1940 Burning Foreign Office records Saint-John Perse
- 1940 Tours Paris Adolf Hitler
- 1940 In Paris as brigadier-general Charles de Gaulle
- 1940 In Paris during the German invasion Henri Matisse
- 1940 Returns to occupied Paris Pablo Picasso
- 1940 First solo concert at Salle Pleyel Édith Piaf
- 1941 Returned to teaching and settled at Hotel Mistral Jean-Paul Sartre
- 1941 Teaching at Lycée Condorcet Jean-Paul Sartre
- 1942 Return to teaching in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Léopold Sédar Senghor
- 1942 ABC wartime engagement Édith Piaf
- 1942 Residence at 5 rue Saint-Benoît Marguerite Duras
- 1942 Residence on rue Villejust Édith Piaf
- 1943 Return to Paris and Resistance work Albert Camus
- 1943 Casino de Paris revue Édith Piaf
- 1944 Performance at Moulin Rouge Édith Piaf
- 1944 Chair at École nationale de la France d'outre-mer Léopold Sédar Senghor
- 1944 Move to Paris during the Resistance Claude Simon
- 1944 Second Salle Pleyel concert Édith Piaf
- 1944 Picasso reading at Michel Leiris's home Claude Simon
- 1944 Visit to rue des Saussaies Marguerite Duras
- 1944 Liberation of Paris Charles de Gaulle
- 1944 Liberation of Paris Ernest Hemingway
- 1944 Reception for Churchill in Paris Charles de Gaulle
- 1944 Armistice Day in liberated Paris Winston Churchill
- 1945 Postwar residence in Paris Albert Camus
- 1945 Took seat at the Palais Bourbon Félix Houphouët-Boigny
- 1945 Moved to rue Bonaparte Jean-Paul Sartre
- 1945 Diplomatic service in Paris Octavio Paz
- 1945 Théâtre de l'Étoile engagement Édith Piaf
- 1945 War correspondent in liberated Paris George Orwell
- 1945 Postwar lecture visit T. S. Eliot
- 1945 Return to Théâtre de l'Étoile Édith Piaf