General GOBERT
See onthe map
General of the Empire.
Gobert, a general born in Guadeloupe in 1760, died of his wounds in Spain, in 1808. David d'Angers sculpted him on horseback, caught at the exact second the man topples: all four hooves have left the ground. The Académie française bought the plot, something a literary company rarely does for a soldier. Only his heart is here; the body stayed over there.
The story
Look at the horse: all four shoes have left the ground. David d'Angers caught the second of the fall, the one in which the general goes down. Few monuments in Père-Lachaise fix an instant like that.
Born in Guadeloupe in 1760, Jacques Nicolas Gobert was a general of the Revolution and then of the Empire. He died in Spain in 1808, of his wounds.
His grave was bought on 10 October 1837 by the Académie française and the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres — a rare case of literary institutions buying a soldier's tomb; the heart was not laid there until 1845. The heroic inscription was cut by his son: “Au général GOBERT — Famars.”
Nothing on it points to the strangest fact of all: only the general's heart is buried here. His body stayed in Spain. With that of Ange-Marie d'Eymar in Division 17, it is one of the two heart-tombs recorded in these pages.
The grave
A monument by David d'Angers showing the general toppling from his horse, in a grave acquired by the Académie française — a rare case of a literary institution buying a soldier's tomb. The heroic inscription was engraved by his son: “To General GOBERT — Famars.” Nothing there points to the most singular fact: only the general's heart is buried here, his body having stayed in Spain, where he died of his wounds. The carditaph — a grave holding a heart alone — is rare at Père-Lachaise: that of Ange-Marie d'Eymar, in Division 17, is the other one.
On site, do not miss
Look at the position of the horse: all four hooves leave the ground. The monument is by David d'Angers; the grave holds only the general's heart.
Visitors' questions
Where is General Gobert's monument?
In Division 37, chemin Masséna, second row. But only his heart is buried here: his body rests in Spain, where he died on 17 July 1808 of a head wound taken at the battle of Bailén.
Ange-Marie d’EymarWho sculpted his tomb?
David d'Angers, the most sought-after funerary sculptor of the nineteenth century: he shows the general toppling from his horse. The grave had been bought by the Académie française. He died in Spain in 1808.
Louis de FontanesHow did General Gobert die?
At Guarromán, in Andalusia, on 17 July 1808, of a ball to the head taken at the battle of Bailén. Born in Guadeloupe, he was a general of the Revolution and of the Empire; only his heart was brought back to France.
Gouvion Saint-CyrWhat does his inscription say?
“Au général GOBERT — Famars.” — to General Gobert, Famars. It is heroic in tone, and it was his son who had it carved. Nothing in it hints at the most singular fact: the grave holds only the general's heart, his body having stayed in Spain.
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