Pride for Moldova: French President inaugurates cenotaph in memory of Robert Badinter, personality with roots in Moldova

President of France Emmanuel Macron has recently inaugurated a cenotaph in memory of Robert Badinter at the Panthéon, the mausoleum in the center of Paris where France's greatest personalities are honored. The monument is a gesture of national recognition for one of Europe's moral consciences, with roots in Bessarabia, through his family from Telenesti, Moldova.

Robert Badinter was born on March 30, 1928, in Paris, to a Jewish family originating from Bessarabia. In 1942, his father was among the Jews held by the Gestapo in the city of Lyon, deported to the Sobibor concentration camp in Poland, where he died.

Throughout his career, Robert Badinter was a lawyer, university professor and politician, best known for his efforts as Minister of Justice, which led to the abolition of the death penalty in France, a law enacted on October 9, 1981.

During 1986-1995, he was President of the Constitutional Court of France, playing a key role in major legal and moral debates of the French state. Badinter remained a symbol of the fight for dignity, freedom and justice, constantly promoting the respect for human rights and humanism.

In 1989, Robert Badinter visited Telenesti, his family's hometown, in a low-key, modest visit, where he commemorated his grandfather Abraham Badinter's grave.

In 2025, France granted him the ultimate recognition, dedicating a cenotaph to him at the Panthéon, alongside the great figures of the nation: Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola and Marie Curie.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the cenotaph in memory of Robert Badinter at the Panthéon is a gesture of national recognition for one of Europe's moral consciences, a personality with origins in Moldova.

“Robert Badinter, former Minister of Justice and former President of the Constitutional Court of France, is an emblematic personality of the fight for dignity, freedom, and justice, with roots in Bessarabia, through his family from Telenesti. His Moldovan roots are reflected in the shaping of a destiny that decisively influenced the modern history of France and Europe. Moldova is proud that its name is found in the journey of a personality who historically marked the European space,” reads a press release by the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE).

A cenotaph is a monument erected in memory of an important person, even if their body is not there. It is a symbolic grave, a place of homage and commemoration for someone who made a remarkable contribution to history or culture.