The son of a cabinetmaker, he designed his engines the way one designs furniture: a thousand patents, seven thousand five hundred cars, and a Type 35 that won more than two thousand victories. He had bought this plot in 1942; he was buried in it in 1947 beside his wife and his brother, and in 1955 all three left again for Alsace. Nothing remains here but a stele and one word: “BUGATTI”.
The story
Ettore Bugatti was born in Milan on 15 September 1881, into a family of artists: his father Carlo was a cabinetmaker and designer, his brother Rembrandt a sculptor of animals. He would draw his engines the way other men draw furniture.
He founded his marque at Molsheim, in Alsace, in 1909. The Type 13 launched the firm; the Type 35, blue, on aluminium wheels, won more than two thousand races on its own — no other model has ever won as many.
The Type 41, the “Royale”, carried excess as far as it will go: three hundred horsepower, twelve thousand seven hundred and sixty-three cubic centimetres, more than six metres long. Bugatti had designed it for kings; no king bought one. Six were built, only three were sold.
In thirty-seven years Molsheim filed a thousand patents and turned out close to seven thousand five hundred cars, which between them won more than ten thousand races, in every class. Then everything stopped: on 11 August 1939 his son Jean, who was to succeed him, was killed testing a Type 57 on the road at Duppigheim. He was thirty.
He died of a stroke at the American Hospital in Neuilly on 21 August 1947, and he was buried here, in Division 97, in the plot he had bought five years earlier. He stayed only eight years: on 5 May 1955 his family had him carried to the cemetery at Dorlisheim, beside his works. The stele was left on its own, with his name.
The grave
This is a grave that was emptied. Ettore Bugatti had bought the plot in 1942; his wife Barbara and his brother, the sculptor Rembrandt, who died in 1916, were brought together in it in 1944, and he joined them in August 1947. On 5 May 1955 the three bodies left again for the cemetery at Dorlisheim, next to the Molsheim works, where the whole family lies today. The monument stayed: a square of grass edged with twelve stone posts, and a grey granite stele carrying a single word, “BUGATTI” — no first name, no dates, not the slightest mention of motor cars. The only date is on the back: “27 - PA 1942”, the number of the plot.
On site, do not miss
Step round behind the stele: the back reads “27 - PA 1942”, painted in red — the number of the plot and the year Ettore Bugatti bought it. It is the only date on the monument.
Visitors' questions
Where is Ettore Bugatti's monument?
In Division 97, avenue Pacthod, first row, in the upper part of the cemetery — the same avenue as the equestrian monument of General Andranik, which stands in Division 94. Look for a grey granite stele set on a square of grass: it bears a single word.
General AndranikIs Bugatti's body at Père-Lachaise?
Not since 1955 — but he did lie here for eight years. He had bought the plot in 1942; his wife Barbara and his brother, the sculptor Rembrandt, had preceded him into it in 1944. On 5 May 1955 the three bodies left for Dorlisheim, in Alsace, next to the Molsheim works. Bellini's tomb met the same fate.
Vincenzo BelliniWhat does his monument look like?
A square of grass ringed by twelve stone posts, with a grey granite stele at the centre. The front comes down to one word, “BUGATTI” — no first name, no dates, not the slightest mention of motor cars. The back reads “27 - PA 1942”, the number of the plot.
François-Joseph TalmaWhat is Bugatti's most famous car?
The Type 35, which won more than two thousand races on its own — no other model has ever won as many. The Type 41 “Royale”, with three hundred horsepower and twelve thousand seven hundred and sixty-three cubic centimetres, was built in only six examples, of which just three were sold.
Fulgence BienvenüeAudio guide to Père Lachaise: the best unusual guided tour!
Discover the secrets of the most astonishing tombs
the audio guidefrom€6.99