Allée Claude Cahun–Marcel Moore

The Allée Claude Cahun–Marcel Moore is a quiet, significant passage in the sixth arrondissement, standing as the first street in the world to be officially named after a same-sex couple. It commemorates the lives and work of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, who lived and created art just steps away from this location during the 1920s and 1930s. They arrived in Paris in 1922 and became central figures in the bohemian artistic scene. While they are often remembered individually, their relationship was a deeply collaborative partnership in both life and art. They used gender-neutral names to challenge the rigid norms of their time and frequently explored the themes of identity and performance through photography and literature. They viewed their work as a shared effort, with Cahun once describing Moore as the other me. Beyond their artistic contributions, they were committed political activists. During their time in Paris, they engaged with various anti-fascist organizations before moving to the island of Jersey in 1937. When the Nazis occupied the island during the Second World War, the couple launched a daring, two-woman resistance campaign from their home. They authored and distributed thousands of anonymous leaflets designed to incite rebellion among German soldiers, using their fluent grasp of the language and their status as seemingly harmless sisters to evade detection for years. Their legacy remains one of radical defiance, both against the oppressive political regimes of their day and against the narrow definitions of identity.