Grave of Fresnel, grave in Paris, France

Tombe d'Augustin Fresnel is a raised rectangular stone tomb in the Père Lachaise cemetery, near other graves and a stone mausoleum. A tall dark rounded stele stands behind the slab, and small light stones sit on its moss-edged base.

Augustin Fresnel, born in Normandy in 1788, worked on light waves and designed the stepped lens used in lighthouses before dying in 1827. He was buried here with his uncle, the painter and chemist Jean François Léonor Mérimée, father of the writer Prosper Mérimée.

Visitors often leave small light-colored stones on the slab, following a custom of marking a respectful visit rather than leaving cut flowers. The inscription honors the physicist as a member of the Institut de France, linking the grave to a scientific memory that many people still seek out among the cemetery paths.

The grave sits among tall trees and other monuments, on ground covered with dry leaves, so shoes with some grip help on damp days. It is easiest to locate with a cemetery map on a phone, since paths branch often between the stone works.

Fresnel died of tuberculosis on July 14, 1827, the same date later associated with the French national celebration. The stepped lens he invented still lights many coastal beacons, so his name is visible far beyond this quiet corner of the cemetery.