Jean-Marc Giaume, municipal councilor delegated to historical heritage, was well-versed in his subject. As the president from 1996 to 2008 of the Federation of Associations of the Nice Committee and co-author of the book ‘The County of Nice, from Savoy to Europe’ (Serre Editions – 2006), this speaker knew his topic well.
But Jean-Marc Giaume earned the admiration of the audience with his perfect mastery of the historical chronology of the characters, born in Nice or adopted by it, who honored the city through their success or talent over the centuries.
Famous artists, politicians, and scientists shaped Nice
In this more than hour-long ‘journey,’ Jean-Marc Giaume found space and gave her moment of glory to Catherine Ségurane. Real or mythical character who inspires dreams? In any case, she represents the symbol a population needs for its identity.
Artists also play an important role in the life of Nice, like Ludovic Bréa, who is part of the so-called primitives painting school. Additionally, Alexis Moussa, creator of the carnival floats that bestowed prestige on the now-world-renowned Nice Carnival and originated today’s Museum of Fine Arts.
To finish with the artists, we must also mention among the more recent figures, the two representatives of the Nice School whose fame is universally recognized: Yves Klein and Pierre Fernandes, known as Arman.
Jean-Dominique Cassini and his curious lineage of three other family members, all astronomers, are among the scientists who marked Nice, just like the naturalist Jean-Baptiste Barla, to whom we owe the Natural History Museum, as well as Antoine Risso, who was behind the landscaping of the Castle Hill in 1830. Let’s not forget Albert Calmette, the inventor of the tuberculosis vaccine in 1921.
The politico-cultural life also had its personalities. They exerted their influence to have Nice be the site of a University in 1965. The historian thus mentions Paul Monteil, mathematician, member of the Academy of Sciences, and administrator of the CUM, as well as René Cassin, who was Deputy President of the Council of State, president of ENA, and among the founders of UNESCO. The latter was especially a Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1968 during the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which he was one of the authors.
The military and statesmen, on their side, received a simple mention. Among them, Giuseppe Garibaldi, the hero of the Two Worlds, and André Masséna, the marshal of the Empire whom Bonaparte called ‘the dear child of victory,’ with such notoriety that it needs no further words. Or simply recalling that his family bequeathed the Villa Masséna, now Masséna Museum, to the City of Nice with the obligation to keep the garden open to the public.
We end with the writers: Louis Nucéra, whose name graces the Municipal Library, Max Gallo and Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (Nobel laureate in literature), the playwright and representative of ‘nissartitude’ Francis Gag, as well as the one to whom the people of Nice owe their anthem ‘Nissa la Bella,’ Menica Rondelli.
Yet, Nice counts many other outstanding figures, among whom we can also mention the Franciscan Father Marc, whose journeys of his ministry allowed him to give the name to what is now San Francisco in California!
But every story has an end that deserves reflection with a quote from Jean-Marc Jaume: “A work of transmission is needed so that the heritage of our City is known because there is a thread between the past and the future that passes through the present. And we must never forget, as Montaigne said: one world always goes against another.”
