Sérurier was a lieutenant at twelve, as the Old Regime allowed, when rank was bought or inherited before it was earned. In armies where looting was a habit, his conduct in Italy earned him the name of the Virgin of Italy, which his comrades did not grant willingly. A Marshal of the Empire, he governed the Invalides for fifteen years. His monument is empty: it is a cenotaph.
The story
A lieutenant at twelve: the old regime allowed these children's careers, where rank was bought before it was earned. Born at Laon on 8 December 1742, Jean Mathieu Philbert Sérurier was the son of the master mole-catcher of the royal studs — the man paid to take the moles out of the meadows of the king's stables.
In an army where plunder was the rule, his conduct during the Italian campaign earned him a nickname his comrades did not hand out easily: “La Vierge d'Italie,” the Virgin of Italy. Governor of the Invalides from 1803 and marshal of the Empire the following year, on 30 March 1814 he had some fourteen hundred flags taken from the enemy burned in the courtyard, so that the allies entering Paris could not take them back. The Second Restoration threw him out of the post in December 1815.
The monument in Division 39 is a cenotaph: the marshal is not there. Its inscription nevertheless opens with “Ici repose,” here lies, unrolls all his titles — marshal and peer of France, grand cross of Saint-Louis and of the Legion of Honour — and misspells his first name, cut as “Mathieux.” His body joined the Invalides in 1847.
The grave
A cenotaph — one more at Père-Lachaise — whose inscription begins with the words that fit least: “Ici repose, le comte Jean Mathieux Philbert SERURIER, maréchal et pair de France, grand-croix de l'ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis et de la Légion d'honneur, né à Laon le 8 décembre 1742.” — here rests Count Jean Mathieux Philbert Sérurier, Marshal and peer of France, Grand Cross of the royal and military Order of Saint Louis and of the Legion of Honour, born at Laon on 8 December 1742. All the titles are there, down to the misspelt first name — “Mathieux” — but not the body. Neither the Invalides, nor “the Virgin of Italy”.
On site, do not miss
An honorary monument whose inscription begins with “Ici repose” — here rests. Note the spelling of the first name: the stone carves “Mathieux”.
Visitors' questions
Where is Marshal Sérurier's monument?
In Division 39, chemin Masséna, first row — but it is a cenotaph. Its inscription begins all the same with “Ici repose”, here lies, and runs through every one of his titles. He died in 1819.
The Duchess of MazarinWhy “La Vierge d'Italie”?
For his honesty during the Italian campaign under Bonaparte — in an army where plunder was the rule, being straight earned a man a nickname: the Virgin of Italy.
Marshal SuchetWas he a lieutenant at twelve?
He was: the son of an officer of the king's household, he was made a lieutenant at twelve. The Ancien Régime allowed these childhood careers, where rank was bought or inherited before it was earned.
Augustin d’AbovilleWhat did he do after the Empire?
He lost his post. Governor of the Invalides since 1803, he held it through the Empire and the Hundred Days — then the Second Restoration removed him in 1815 and put the Duke of Coigny in his place. He kept his peerage and his marshal's pay until his death four years later.
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