Lawyer fights for the ‘birth right’ of France’s villages

The Mitterrand birthplace museum in Jarnac, France includes a colour photograph of the late president over the mantelpiece and a marble bust.   Photograph: Institut Francois Mitterrand

By Verena HoelzlIn today’s world, Montboudif would never achieve fame. In this small French village in the Auvergne, Georges Pompidou was born in 1911 and went on to become president of France 1969-74.Today Madame Pompidou would be driven to nearby Aurillac to give birth and there would be no Pompidou birthplace museum at Montboudif, no fame as the place that gave France and the world a great leader. At least that’s the belief of lawyer Jean-Pierre Versini-Campinchi, who’s campaigning to fix what he sees as a problem.French villages have always been proud of their famous sons and daughters, but fewer home births and more use of centralised city hospitals mean that villages seldom appear as places of birth on the registers these days. Even though France has more than 36,000 municipalities, there are only 540 hospitals with maternity wards, says Versini-Campinchi.The Paris-based lawyer, along with Jean-Cyril Spinetta, the former head of Air France-KLM, set up an Association for the Revival of the Villages a few months ago. The movement has already attracted an illustrious circle of supporters. “Birthplaces are something very symbolic. We can’t allow that to be lost,” says the 73-year-old.In western France, Jarnac, which has a population of 4,000, has a museum to mark the fact that another former French president, Francois Mitterrand, was born there.Cateau-Cambresis, population 7,000, in northern France has an art museum to tell us that it’s the birthplace of the painter Henri Matisse. In the case of wartime leader and postwar president Charles de Gaulle, his former residence Colombey-les-deux-Eglises is better known than his birthplace, Lille. “It’s an exception that proves the rule,” retorts Versini-Campinchi.The self-styled village saviour proposes an amendment to the law. In future, parents should be able to decide whether the place of birth or the place of residence is recorded on the birth register.That the birth information might not be strictly correct under those circumstances doesn’t bother the lawyer. “The concept of a birthplace is in any case just a definition. Origin could likewise be defined as the place of conception,” Versini-Campinchi said.He doesn’t see any problems with implementing his proposal.In France, births must be registered at the latest three days after they occur. If the community is so small that the town hall doesn’t open every day, people could go directly to the mayor, Versini-Campinchi said.In addition to the symbolic value of birthplaces, he argues that his proposed reform would benefit the work of future genealogists and historians, who often rely heavily on the birth registers of the municipalities.Versini-Campinchi is confident that France’s mayors will support his proposal. The Association of French Mayors, however, hasn’t committed itself so far. A spokeswoman said, “This is not the most pressing issue that is before us at the moment.” — DPA