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Origin and history

The tomb of Chateaubriand is erected on the islet of the Grand Bé, in Saint-Malo, according to the will of the writer François-René de Chateaubriand (1768–48), born in this city. He wanted to rest "forever turned towards the sea and the storm," as he expressed in his writings. As early as 1823 he sought an isolated place for his burial, but his initial request in 1828 was refused by the municipal council of Saint-Malo, citing reasons related to his "public and private life".

It was thanks to the intervention of the malouin poet Hippolyte de La Morvonnais in 1831 that the project was completed. The municipal council, under pressure from the latter and the new mayor Louis Hovius, finally accepted the concession provided that an agreement was reached with the Minister of War. The tomb was completed in 1838, ten years before Chateaubriand died, on the western tip of the Grand Bé. It is designed without inscription, according to his wish, with a simple anonymous plaque in the background: "A great French writer wanted to rest here to hear only the sea and the wind. »

The monument, initially surrounded by neo-Gothic rambardes, suffered damage in 1944 when a shell broke an angle of the tombstone. The architect Raymond Cornon, responsible for historical monuments, then restored the site by deleting one side of the railing to "extend the dialogue with the sea". By 1924 erosion threatened the tomb, but despite studies (one commissioned in 2023 by the municipality), it remained at its original location. Today, full access to the monument is forbidden because of the erosion of the cliffs.

The site inspires several literary figures: Flaubert, admirer of Chateaubriand, collects and evokes in Par les champs et par les strikes. On the other hand, Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre express their contempt during a visit, the latter going as far as to urinate on the grave. A linguistic anecdote also links the place to his name: Bé would mean "fall" in Breton, although Chateaubriand affirms in his Memoirs d'outre-tombe having "chosen well without knowing it".

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