Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat

Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat () is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in west-central France, on a hill above the river Vienne. It is named after Saint Leonard of Noblac.

Demographics
Inhabitants are known as Miaulétous.

Sights
Saint-Léonard church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site part of the World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France. Lajoumard, administratively part of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, is one of the oldest villages in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Notable people
Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat is the hometown of the chemist and physicist, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac.

Adrien Pressemane, a porcelain painter, lived in the town and represented the district in parliament.

Raymond Poulidor, considered by some as the most popular racing cyclist in France, lived in the town. He was known as "the eternal second" of the Tour de France after repeatedly losing, often against Jacques Anquetil, who won five times. Poulidor later competed against Eddy Merckx, who also won five times. Poulidor's best victory was in Milan-Sanremo.

Serge Gainsbourg, (Lucien Ginzburg) (1928-1991), took refuge a few months during the year 1944 to the local high school, thereby escaping the persecution of Jews (his parents had immigrated from Crimea) . A comprehensive article on this stay appears in the journal "Memory of Here" (No. 3). His presence in Saint Léonard - it lasted about 6 months - has long been ignored, to the point of creating a controversy about a street name (2001). Only the Press House now called the singer. The debate is closed, since the arrival of Serge in Saint-Léonard has been proven by several witnesses.

Gilles Deleuze, French philosopher, lived and is buried there.

Mario David, of his real name Jacques Paul Jules Marie David, French actor, (1927-1996) was at school here.

Georges-Emmanuel Clancier, (1914-2018), French writer and poet. In Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, he met Raymond Queneau and Michel Leiris.

Daniel-Henri Kahnweiler (1884-1979), German writer and collector, who promoted the Cubist movement and discovered, among others, Picasso and Braque, took refuge in Saint-Léonard during the war.

Philippe de Vomécourt (1902-1964), French Resistance and Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent in World War II. His home was near Noblat.

See also
Communes of the Haute-Vienne department

References
INSEE

External links

Category:Communes of Haute-Vienne
Category:World Heritage Sites in France
Category:County of La Marche