Monument aux victimes de la guerre 1914-1918

You are standing before the Issy-les-Moulineaux war memorial, a monument that stands apart from the typical battlefield tributes found across France. While most towns chose to celebrate military victory or heroic sacrifice after the First World War, this site focuses entirely on the quiet, human reality of grief. It was sculpted by Emile Fernand-Dubois, a former student of the famed Auguste Rodin, and his influence is visible in the way the stone conveys raw, internalized pain rather than patriotic bombast. The sculpture depicts a woman kneeling beside a lifeless soldier, a scene that avoids theatrical poses to capture a more universal, silent suffering. By commissioning this work, the city council took the unusual step of funding the entire project themselves, refusing state aid or public donations. This decision ensured they retained full creative control to honor the local men as children of their community rather than as distant, nameless soldiers. The memorial was unveiled in November of nineteen twenty-four, timed intentionally to coincide with the somber period immediately following All Saints Day.