Neuilly-sur-Seine is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 6.8 km
from the centre of Paris. Although Neuilly is technically a suburb of
Paris, it is immediately adjacent to the city and directly extends it. The area is composed
of mostly wealthy, select residential neighbourhoods, as well as the headquarters of many corporations.
It is often lumped together with some areas of the neighbouring 16th arrondissement of
Paris as Auteuil-Neuilly-Passy, a compendium of "bourgeois" neighbourhoods in Paris. Neuilly
is often considered as the richest of the 129 communes with over 20,000 inhabitants
in France, at €55,786 per person.
History The origins of Neuilly-sur-Seine's name are
quite confused and controversial. Originally, Neuilly was a small hamlet under the jurisdiction
of Villiers, a larger settlement mentioned in medieval sources as early as 832 and now
absorbed by the commune of Levallois-Perret. It was not until 1222 that the little settlement
of Neuilly, established on the banks of the Seine, was mentioned for the first time in
a charter of the Abbey of Saint-Denis: the name was recorded in Medieval Latin as Portus
de Lulliaco, meaning "Port of Lulliacum". In 1224 another charter of Saint-Denis recorded
the name as Lugniacum. In a sales contract dated 1266 the name was also recorded as Luingni.
In 1316, however, in a ruling of the parlement of Paris, the name was recorded as Nully,
quite a different name from those recorded before. In a document dated 1376 the name
was again recorded as Nulliacum. Then in the following centuries the name recorded alternated
between Luny and Nully, and it is only after 1648 that the name was definitely set as Nully.
The name spelt Neuilly after the French Academy standard of pronunciation of the ill as a
y. Various explanations and etymologies have
been proposed to explain these discrepancies in the names of Neuilly recorded over the
centuries. It seems most plausible to consider that the original name of Neuilly was Lulliacum
or Lugniacum, and that it was only later corrupted into Nulliacum / Nully. Some interpret Lulliacum
or Lugniacum as meaning "estate of Lullius", probably a Gallo-Roman landowner. This interpretation
is based on the many placenames of France made up of the names of Gallo-Roman landowners
and suffixed with the traditional placename suffix "-acum". However, other researchers
object that it is unlikely that Neuilly owes its name to a Gallo-Roman patronym, because
during the Roman occupation of Gaul the area of Neuilly was inside the large Forest of
Rouvray, of which the Bois de Boulogne is all that remains today, and was probably not
settled yet. These researchers contend that it is only
after the fall of the Roman Empire and the Germanic invasions that the area of Neuilly
was deforested and settled. Thus, they think that the name Lulliacum or Lugniacum comes
from the ancient Germanic word lund meaning "forest", akin to Old Norse lundr meaning
"grove", to which the placename suffix "-acum" was added. The Old Norse word lundr has indeed
left many placenames across Europe, such as the city of Lund in Sweden, the Forest of
the Londe in Normandy, or the many English placenames containing "lound", "lownde", or
"lund" in their name, or ending in "-land". However, this interesting theory fails to
explain why the "d" of lund is missing in Lulliacum or Lugniacum.
Concerning the discrepancy in names over the centuries, the most probable explanation is
that the original name Lulliacum or Lugniacum was later corrupted into Nulliacum / Nully
by inversion of the consonants, perhaps under the influence of an old Celtic word meaning
"swampy land, boggy land" which is found in the name of many French places anciently covered
with water, such as Noue, Noë, Nouan, Nohant, etc. Or perhaps the consonants were simply
inverted under the influence of the many settlements of France called Neuilly.
Until the French Revolution, the settlement was often referred to as Port-Neuilly, but
at the creation of French communes in 1790 the "Port" was dropped and the newly born
commune was named simply Neuilly. On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged
by annexing neighbouring communes. On that occasion, a part of the territory of Neuilly-sur-Seine
was annexed by the city of Paris, and forms now the neighbourhood of Ternes, in the 17th
arrondissement of Paris. On 11 January 1867, part of the territory
of Neuilly-sur-Seine was detached and merged with a part of the territory of Clichy to
create the commune of Levallois-Perret. On 2 May 1897, the commune name officially
became Neuilly-sur-Seine, in order to distinguish it from the many communes of France also called
Neuilly. However, most people continue to refer to Neuilly-sur-Seine as simply "Neuilly".
During the 1900 Summer Olympics, it hosted the basque pelota events.
The American Hospital of Paris was founded in 1906.
In 1919, the Treaty of Neuilly was signed with Bulgaria in Neuilly-sur-Seine to conclude
its role in World War I. In 1929, the Bois de Boulogne, which was hitherto
divided between the communes of Neuilly-sur-Seine and Boulogne-Billancourt, was annexed in its
entirety by the city of Paris. Main sights
It was the site of the Château de Neuilly, an important royal residence during the July
Monarchy. Transport
Neuilly-sur-Seine is served by three stations on Paris Métro Line 1: Porte Maillot, Les
Sablons and Pont de Neuilly. RATP Bus service includes the lines 43, 73,
82, 93, 157, 158, 163, 164, 174 [1] Night Bus lines include N11 and N24.
Economy JCDecaux, Thales Group, The International
Herald Tribune and the global edition of the The New York Times newspaper are headquartered
in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Famous residents
Jean de La Fontaine, French poet and fabulist Natalie Barney, American heiress, early 20th
century Andre Beaufre French general
Liliane Bettencourt, L'Oreal heiress and richest woman in France
Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers, Liliane Bettencourt's daughter
Carole Bouquet, actress Jonathan Bru, footballer
Bette Davis died on 6 October 1989 at the American Hospital
Marcel Duchamp, artist Jacqueline François, chanson singer
Paul Grimault, animator Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Shock rock musician.
Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Half of duo Daft Punk
Wassily Kandinsky, Russian Abstract-Expressionist Sophie Marceau, French actress
Roger Martin du Gard, winner of 1937 Nobel Prize for Literature
Mireille Mathieu, chanson singer, has been a resident since 1965
Olivier Missoup, rugby player Ilona Mitrecey, Eurodance artist
Anaïs Nin, author and diarist, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine Allan Nyom, footballer
Aristotle Onassis died on 15 March 1975 at the American Hospital
Marine Le Pen, French politician : president of the Front National, youngest daughter of
FN founder Jean-Marie Le Pen. Born there on 5 August 1968.
Edith Piaf, French singer Jacques Prévert, poet and screenwriter, was
born in Neuilly, as was the animator Paul Grimault. Indeed, these two collaborated on
a number of movies, and mention the Neuilly festival in Le Roi et l'oiseau, while Prévert
mentions the Neuilly festival in his poem "La Fête à Neuilly", in Histoires, 1946.
Eça de Queiroz, great Portuguese writer, journalist and diplomat
Jean Raspail, French writer Pierre Ramond, string theorist.
Nicolas Sarkozy, former president of France, was mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1983 to
2002 David Servan-Schreiber, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine
René Semelaigne, biographer Vittorio De Sica, Italian actor and film director
Martin Solveig, French electro-house DJ. Dominique Strauss-Kahn
François Truffaut, French film director, actor
Albert Uderzo, writer and illustrator of the Asterix comic books, lives in Neuilly.
Ludovic Valbon, rugby player The Duke and Duchess of Windsor lived at the
'Villa Windsor' at 4 route du Champ d'Entraînement in Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1952 until their
respective deaths. Mary Wollstonecraft, English writer who came
to France during the Revolution as a war correspondent Jacques Zwobada, French sculptor
In 2009, Prince Umberto of Savoy- Aosta, the eldest son of the Duke of Apulia and Princess
Olga of Greece, was born in Neuilly- sur- Seine. Prince Umberto is a member of the former
Italian Royal Family and is 2 in the line of succession to the former Italian throne.
Twin towns
Neuilly-sur-Seine is twinned with: Uccle, Belgium
Windsor and Maidenhead, United Kingdom Hanau, Germany
See also
Communes of the Hauts-de-Seine department Neuilly sa mère!, 2009 film set in Neuilly-sur-Seine
References INSEE
External links (French) Neuilly-sur-Seine city council website