Ange-Marie d'Eymar, a nobleman of Forcalquier born in 1747, was among the first of his order to join the Third Estate at the Estates General. Ambassador to Turin, then prefect of Léman, he died in Geneva in 1803. Only his heart came back here, and his widow joined it “after fifteen years of a painful separation”, says the inscription. The word for it is a heart-tomb.
The story
Fifteen years separate the death of Ange-Marie d'Eymar, prefect and diplomat, at Geneva in 1803 from that of his widow in Paris in 1818. The epitaph calls them “réunis pour jamais après quinze ans d'une séparation douloureuse”, reunited for ever after fifteen years of painful separation — and it is not a figure of speech: only Eymar's heart was brought back here, in what is called a carditaph, a tomb for a heart.
Born at Forcalquier on 8 September 1747, he denounced, before the Revolution, the intransigence of the privileged orders — to which he himself belonged. Elected deputy for the nobility of Forcalquier, he was among the first noblemen to join the Third Estate. In 1790 he called for great honours for Rousseau.
Made commissioner of the Republic to the Army of the Alps in 1793, he was then ambassador of France at Turin, and afterwards prefect of the department of Léman.
His widow, Anne Catherine Rosalie Decourt, died in 1818 and came to join him — or to join what was left of him. The grave brings together a whole woman and the heart of a man.
The grave
A heart-tomb — a grave that holds nothing but a heart. The epitaph, one of the finest in the cemetery, explains its meaning: “Ici reposent, réunis pour jamais après quinze ans d'une séparation douloureuse, la dépouille mortelle de Anne Catherine Rosalie DECOURT, décédée le 16 novembre 1818 âgée de 42 ans, veuve de Ange Marie d'EYMAR, membre de l'assemblée constituante, ambassadeur de France à Turin, préfet du dépt du Léman, et le cœur de ce digne époux qui fit la gloire de sa femme, et lui dut le bonheur de sa vie.” — Here rest, reunited for ever after fifteen years of a painful separation, the mortal remains of Anne Catherine Rosalie Decourt, who died on 16 November 1818 aged 42, widow of Ange Marie d'Eymar, member of the Constituent Assembly, ambassador of France to Turin, prefect of the department of Léman, and the heart of this worthy husband, who was the glory of his wife and owed her the happiness of his life. The Constituent's body is buried elsewhere; his heart waited fifteen years for the woman who joined it.
On site, do not miss
Read the epitaph in full: it unites “la dépouille mortelle” of the wife — her mortal remains — “et le cœur de ce digne époux, après quinze ans d'une séparation douloureuse” — and the heart of this worthy husband, after fifteen years of a painful separation. The body lies elsewhere.
Visitors' questions
Where is Ange-Marie d'Eymar's grave?
In Division 17, chemin de La Bédoyère, sixth row — but it is a heart-tomb: only his heart rests there, his body being buried elsewhere. His widow, Anne Catherine Rosalie Decourt, has lain in the grave since 1818.
Auguste ComteWhat does his epitaph say?
It is one of the most moving in the cemetery: “Ici reposent, réunis pour jamais après quinze ans d'une séparation douloureuse” — here lie, reunited for ever after fifteen years of painful separation — the remains of his widow “and the heart of that worthy husband who made his wife's glory, and owed her the happiness of his life”.
Clotilde de VauxWhat part did he play in 1789?
Elected deputy for the nobility of Forcalquier, he was among the first nobles to join the Third Estate. He had already denounced in print the intransigence of the privileged orders to which he himself belonged.
Boissy d’AnglasWhat did he ask for Rousseau?
Great honours, in 1790 — long before the Panthéon. A man of the Enlightenment who became commissioner of the Republic to the Army of the Alps in 1793, he ended as ambassador to Turin and then prefect of the Léman.
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