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.

The slab carries the inscription "A la mémoire de Augustin Jean Fresnel, membre de l'Institut de France", naming the learned body he joined in 1823 rather than the Académie française. Fresnel rests here with his uncle Jean François Léonor Mérimée, a painter and chemist and father of the writer Prosper Mérimée. Small light stones are placed on the moss-edged base by visitors.

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 shares the grave with his uncle Jean François Léonor Mérimée, a painter and chemist, and the father of the writer Prosper Mérimée. The inscription on the monument reads "À la mémoire de Augustin Jean Fresnel, membre de l'Institut de France", naming the Institut rather than the Académie des Sciences, to which he was elected in 1823.