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'Neuilly-sur-Seine' (pronounced in French) is a commune bordering the western limit of the city of Paris, France. It is located 6.8 km (4.2 miles) from the center of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.
Neuilly is a wealthy suburb of Paris, although one that is immediately adjacent to Paris and a direct extension of it; it comprises mostly select residential neighbourhoods and also hosts the headquarters of many corporations.

Contents

Name

History

Demographics

Immigration

Mayors

Transport

Miscellaneous

Twin towns

External links

Name

The origins of Neuilly-sur-Seine's name are quite confused and controversial. Originally, Neuilly was a small hamlet under the jurisdiction of Villiers, a larger settlement mentioned in medieval sources as early as 832 and now absorbed by the commune of Levallois-Perret. It was not until 1222 that the little settlement of Neuilly, established on the banks of the Seine, was mentioned for the first time in a charter of the Abbey of Saint-Denis: the name was recorded in Medieval Latin as ''Portus de Lulliaco'', meaning "Port of Lulliacum". In 1224 another charter of Saint-Denis recorded the name as ''Lugniacum''. In a sales contract dated 1266 the name was also recorded as ''Luingni''.
In 1316, however, in a ruling of the ''parlement'' of Paris, the name was recorded as ''Nully'', quite a different name from those recorded before. In a document dated 1376 the name was again recorded as ''Nulliacum'' (the Medieval Latin version of ''Nully''). Then in the following centuries the name recorded alternated between ''Luny'' and ''Nully'', and it is only after 1648 that the name was definitely set as ''Nully'', later spelt ''Neuilly''.
Various explanations and etymologies have been proposed to explain these discrepancies in the names of Neuilly recorded over the centuries. It seems most plausible to consider that the original name of Neuilly was ''Lulliacum'' or ''Lugniacum'', and that it was only later corrupted into ''Nulliacum'' / ''Nully''. Some interpret ''Lulliacum'' or ''Lugniacum'' as meaning "estate of Lullius (or Lunius)", probably a Gallo-Roman landowner. This interpretation is based on the many placenames of France made up of the names of Gallo-Roman landowners and suffixed with the traditional placename suffix "-acum". However, other researchers object that it is unlikely that Neuilly owes its name to a Gallo-Roman patronym, because during the Roman occupation of Gaul the area of Neuilly was inside the large Forest of Rouvray, of which the Bois de Boulogne is all that remains today, and was probably not settled yet.
These researchers contend that it is only after the fall of the Roman Empire and the Germanic invasions that the area of Neuilly was deforested and settled. Thus, they think that the name ''Lulliacum'' or ''Lugniacum'' comes from the ancient Germanic word ''lund'' meaning "forest", akin to Old Norse ''lundr'' meaning "grove", to which the placename suffix "-acum" was added. The Old Norse word ''lundr'' has indeed left many placenames across Europe, such as the city of Lund in Sweden, the Forest of the Londe in Normandy, or the many English placenames containing "lound", "lownde", or "lund" in their name, or ending in "-land". However, this interesting theory fails to explain why the "d" of ''lund'' is missing in ''Lulliacum'' or ''Lugniacum''.
Concerning the discrepancy in names over the centuries, the most probable explanation is that the original name ''Lulliacum'' or ''Lugniacum'' was later corrupted into ''Nulliacum'' / ''Nully'' by inversion of the consonants, perhaps under the influence of an old Celtic word meaning "swampy land, boggy land" (as was the land around Neuilly-sur-Seine in ancient times) which is found in the name of many French places anciently covered with water, such as Noue, Noë, Nouan, Nohant, etc. Or perhaps the consonants were simply inverted under the influence of the many settlements of France called Neuilly (a frequent placename whose etymology is completely different from the special case of Neuilly-sur-Seine).
Until the French Revolution, the settlement was often referred to as ''Port-Neuilly'', but at the creation of French communes in 1790 the "Port" was dropped and the newly born commune was named simply ''Neuilly''.
On May 2, 1897 the commune name officially became Neuilly-sur-Seine (meaning "Neuilly upon Seine"), in order to distinguish it from the many communes of France also called Neuilly. However, most people continue to refer to Neuilly-sur-Seine as simply "Neuilly". Inhabitants are called ''Neuilléens''.

History

On January 1, 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes. On that occasion, a part of the territory of Neuilly-sur-Seine was annexed by the city of Paris, and forms now the neighborhood of Ternes, in the 17th arrondissement of Paris.
On January 11, 1867, part of the territory of Neuilly-sur-Seine was detached and merged with a part of the territory of Clichy to create the commune of Levallois-Perret.
In 1919 the Treaty of Neuilly was signed with Bulgaria in Neuilly-sur-Seine to conclude its role in World War I.
In 1929, the Bois de Boulogne, which was hitherto divided between the communes of Neuilly-sur-Seine and Boulogne-Billancourt, was annexed in its entirety by the city of Paris.

Demographics

Immigration

Mayors

''(partial list)''

★ Achille Peretti (1947–1983)

★ Nicolas Sarkozy, current french president (1983–2002)

★ Louis-Charles Bary (since 2002)

Transport

Neuilly-sur-Seine is served by three stations on Paris Métro Line 1: Porte Maillot (with a direct access to RER line C), Les Sablons and Pont de Neuilly.
RATP Bus lines : 43, 73, 82, 93, 163, 164, 174

Miscellaneous

★ Neuilly-sur-Seine is home to Gérard Depardieu, the Rollins family, and Jean Reno, among others.

★ Neuilly-sur-Seine is the home of the NATO Research and Technology Organization (RTO).

★ Neuilly-sur-Seine is the location of the American Hospital of Paris.

★ Bette Davis died in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1989, Wassily Kandinsky in 1944, and Hugues Claude Pissarro was born there in 1935.

★ Puerto Rican independence leader Ramón Emeterio Betances died in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1898.

★ Liliane Bettencourt remains a resident.

★ Two leading actors of the French film ''The Grand Illusion'' died here.

★
★ Pierre Fresnay, who portrayed Capt. de Boeldieu, died on 9 January, 1975, due to respiratory problems.

★
★ Less than two years later, on 15 November 1976, Jean Gabin, who portrayed de Boeldieu's pilot Lt. Maréchal, died due to a heart attack.

★ Louis-Antoine Jullien(1812-1860), one of the most "mediatic" conductors and composer of light music in the XIXth century (and one of the kings of the "promenade concerts") died and was buried in Neuilly. His last days were spent in an asylum in Neuilly.

Twin towns

★ Uccle, Belgium

★ Windsor and Maidenhead, Berkshire, England

★ Hanau, Hesse, Germany

External links

★ Neuilly-sur-Seine city council website (in French)