Monument aux morts parisiens de la Première guerre mondiale, War memorial at Père Lachaise Cemetery, France

The monument aux morts parisiens de la Premiere guerre mondiale stretches 280 meters along the outer wall of Père Lachaise Cemetery, displaying inscribed names on dark blue steel plates. The plates are positioned at 1.3 meters height, making them easily readable for visitors walking past.

The memorial stems from a name-collection project begun in 2010 by historian Jean-Louis Robert and a team from the Centre d'histoire sociale du XXe siècle at Paris-I Panthéon-Sorbonne, drawing on the livres d'or of the arrondissement town halls (except the 3rd) and cross-checked against SGA Mémoire des Hommes and departmental archive records. It was inaugurated on 11 November 2018, the centenary of the Armistice, by mayor Anne Hidalgo, and in 2018 received the Geste d'Or prize for projects that enhance heritage.

The names are arranged chronologically by year of death and alphabetically across successive plates, representing all Parisian districts in one place. This organization creates a reference that helps visitors locate names of their relatives.

The memorial runs along the outer wall of Père Lachaise Cemetery on boulevard de Ménilmontant, in the 20th arrondissement, so it is read from the pavement without entering the cemetery. The dark blue steel plates stand 1.30 m high over 280 m, and the names are ordered by year of death, then alphabetically, up to 1925. Regimental abbreviations on the plates are explained in a list of military abbreviations.

The memorial is positioned along the outer boundary of Père Lachaise Cemetery, creating a physical dividing line between the world of the living and the dead. This placement makes it a distinctive location where two realms meet and overlap.