Hommage à Clarissa

You are standing near the site of a profound memorial on the avenue Pierre-Brossolette. This street serves as the border between the towns of Montrouge and Malakoff. It was here, on the morning of January 8, 2015, that Clarissa Jean-Philippe, a twenty-six-year-old municipal police officer, was performing her duties when she was targeted and killed. The memorial itself consists of two plaques that face each other across the street. One plaque is positioned on the Montrouge side, where Clarissa served as an officer, and the other stands on the Malakoff side at the exact location where she died. The plaque in Malakoff was unveiled in 2018 at the request of her family, bearing the poignant words, "Without you, your smile and your joy, life will never be the same again." The site began as an informal memorial where residents left flowers and tributes in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. Over time, these tributes evolved into the current formal markers that define the space. The dual plaques reflect the shared grief of the two communities, ensuring that the memory of Clarissa Jean-Philippe remains central to the history of the streets where she stood in service to others.