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Origin and history

The memorial known as the statue of Rouget de Lisle is a sculptural work located in Place de la Chevalerie in Lons-le-Saunier, in the Jura department. Directed by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi – famous for the Statue of Liberty – it was erected in the 4th quarter of the 19th century (1882) and classified as a Historic Monument in 1992. The statue pays tribute to Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (1760–36), native of Lons-le-Saunier, engineer and author of La Marseillaise, composed in 1792 in Strasbourg at the request of Mayor Philippe-Frédéric de Dietrich.

Rouget de Lisle, son of a local bailiff lawyer, grew up at No. 24 on Rue du Commerce in Lons-le-Saunier. Passionate about music from childhood, he joined the Royal School of Engineering in Mézières and adopted the name "Lisle", inherited from his grandfather. His military career led him to Strasbourg, where he composed Le Chant de guerre pour l ́armée du Rhin (future national anthem) in one night, on 25 April 1792. This song, popularized by Marseille volunteers, became La Marseillaise and was adopted as a national anthem in 1879.

The city of Lons-le-Saunier has multiplied the tributes to his illustrious child: inauguration of the statue in 1882, creation of a museum in his home in 1996, and a carillon playing La Marseillaise every hour. The monument, a communal property, stands at the intersection of Avenue Jean-Moulin and Rue de la Chevalerie. It symbolizes both the revolutionary heritage and the local attachment to this controversial figure, sometimes monarchist, sometimes Republican, whose life was marked by changing political commitments.

Ranked among the Historical Monuments, the statue includes the pedestal and its walk. Its location, right in the city center, makes it a major place of memory for Burgundy-Franche-Comté. The national archives preserve its papers (cote 75AP), while stamps, films and musical works perpetuate its memory, such as Frédéric Duvernoy's Cor Concerto dedicated to Rouget de Lisle.

Despite a precarious end of life (he died in 1836 in Choisy-le-Roi, assisted by Élise Voïart), Rouget de Lisle remained an essential figure in French history. His ashes, transferred to the Invalides in 1915, contrasted with the tomb held in Choisy. In Lons-le-Saunier, Bartholdi's statue is a lasting example of this link between local heritage and national history.

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