Roland Castro was a Maoist in 1968, on Lacan's couch from 1971, a Mitterrand man in 1981, then a Macron supporter in 2017: fifty years of commitments following one another, each of them wholehearted. From a Jewish family that had come from Salonika, he passed through the PSU, the Union of Communist Students, then the groups of the post-May years. The architect, meanwhile, was building: the Bourse du travail in Saint-Denis, the Cité de la bande dessinée in Angoulême.
The story
A Maoist in 1968, on Lacan's couch in 1971, a Mitterrand man in 1981, a Macron man in 2017: Roland Castro's political path amounts to half a century of successive commitments, each of them entire.
Born in Limoges on 16 October 1940 into a Jewish family from Salonika, he joined the PSU and then the Communist students' union in 1962, while studying at the Beaux-Arts in Paris. Expelled from the Communist Party in 1965, he joined the Maoist UJCml, founded “Vive le communisme” in 1968 and then “Vive la révolution”. The seven-year analysis he began with Jacques Lacan in 1971 ran alongside the defeat of his generation's militancy. Then came his support for Mitterrand, his resignation from the Socialist Party when Bernard Tapie was made a minister, his return to the Communists under Robert Hue, the Mouvement de l'Utopie concrète in 2003, Montebourg in 2011.
The architect, for his part, built: the Bourse du travail in Saint-Denis in 1983, the international comics centre at Angoulême in 1990, the Sevenans campus of the Belfort-Montbéliard university of technology, the first Mama Shelter hotel, in the 20th arrondissement, in 2008, the Emblematik tower at Aubervilliers in 2018. He joined the Grand Paris team in 2008-2009.
He died in Paris on 9 March 2023. The plaque in Division 44 carries two elements — a name, two dates — and stands on the avenue des Étrangers-morts-pour-la-France, a few metres from the tomb of Allan Kardec, the most flower-covered in the cemetery.
The grave
A simple plaque, bearing two elements: “Roland CASTRO, 1940-2023”. Neither architect, nor activist, nor any of the buildings — the Cité de la bande dessinée in Angoulême, the Bourse du travail in Saint-Denis, the Emblematik tower in Aubervilliers. It lies on the avenue des Étrangers-morts-pour-la-France, on the edge of Division 44, a few metres from the tomb of Allan Kardec.
On site, do not miss
A simple plaque: “Roland CASTRO, 1940-2023”, laid on the avenue des Étrangers-morts-pour-la-France, a few metres from the tomb of Allan Kardec.
Visitors' questions
Where is Roland Castro's grave?
In Division 44, avenue des Étrangers-morts-pour-la-France, first row, beneath a plain plaque: “Roland CASTRO, 1940-2023”. The Division is that of Allan Kardec, whose tomb carries more flowers than any other in the cemetery.
Allan KardecWhat was his political path?
Long and winding: the PSU, the Communist students' union in 1962, expelled from the Communist Party in 1965, a Maoist in 1968 with the group “Vive la révolution”, Mitterrand in 1981, back to the Communists under Robert Hue, Montebourg in 2011, Macron in 2017. Half a century of successive causes.
Jacques DuclosWas he analysed by Lacan?
Yes: he met Jacques Lacan in 1971 and began a seven-year analysis, just as the Maoist militancy of the 1968 years was coming apart. It is one of the turning points of his life: he left Maoism behind and backed Mitterrand in 1981.
Michel VinaverWhat did he build?
The Bourse du travail in Saint-Denis, the international comics centre at Angoulême (1990), the first Mama Shelter hotel in the 20th arrondissement (2008), the Sevenans campus of the Belfort-Montbéliard university of technology and the Emblematik tower at Aubervilliers (2018).
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