PariPhysics : François Arago

François Arago

Arago's portrait at the Paris Observatory

On Bl. Arago there is a pedestal which I'm told used to have a statue of Arago.

Arago's pedestal

The way I heard it, the statue was melted down during the Commune to make cannon. I don't know how true this is, however.

Arago helped refine the location of the Paris Meridian (which competed for a long time with the Greenwich one). This was commemorated much later with a series of little markers embedded into the ground at a number of places along this meridian in Paris:

Paris Meridian Marker

It probably won't surprise anyone that there are a number of statues and portraits of Arago at the Observatoire de Paris.

Arago's bust at the Observatoire de Paris

Arago's statue at the Observatoire de Paris

Arago's tomb at the Pere Lachaise cemetery

A small statue of Arago at the Carnevalet museum.