France City  -  Lille

 
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The whole metropolitan area of Lille, both on French and Belgian territory (Kortrijk) was estimated in 2000 at around 1,730,000 inhabitants, ranking as one of the major metropolitan areas of Europe.

History

In the 19th century Lille became the centre of French industry due to the large nearby coal deposits. It thus became a central part of the country's rail network. More>>

Access / Local Transportation    

Lille is an important crossroads in the European TGV network: it lies on the Eurostar line to London and the Thalys network to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne. See the Lille Metro map. More>>

Economy    

A former major textile manufacturing center, Lille forms the heart of a larger conurbation, regrouping Lille, Roubaix, Tourcoing and Villeneuve d'Ascq, which is France's 4th-largest urban conglomeration with a 1999 population of over 1.1 million.

Education    

With over 144 000 students, the metropolitan area of Lille is one of the first student cities in France. The Catholic University, EDHEC Business School founded in 1906, and the ESC Lille Graduate School of Business founded in 1892, ESJ - a leading journalism school and three public universities (Lille I, II and III) are present in Lille.

Population     

The city of Lille absorbed Lomme on February 27, 2000. Their combined population at the 1999 census was 212,597 inhabitants. The whole metropolitan area of Lille, both on French and Belgian territory (Kortrijk) was estimated in 2000 at around 1,730,000 inhabitants, ranking as one of the major metropolitan areas of Europe.

Famous People    

Scientists and Industrialists

• Charles Joseph Panckoucke, (1736-1788), founder of the Moniteur Universel, owner of Mercure de France, promoter of the Lumières and editor of the Encyclopédie Méthodique.

• Antoine Scrive-Labbe (1789-1864), industrialist in the textile field and French spy.

• Auguste Scalbert (1815, 1899), creator of the first Nordiste bank.

• Alfred Mongy (1840-1914), modernizer of the city.

• Albert Calmette (1863 - 1933) and Camille Guérin (1872-1961), discovery of the antituberculosis vaccine.

• Jean Perrin (1870, 1942), Nobel Prize in physics and creator of the French CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research).

Artists

• Renée Adorée (1898-1933), actress.

• Alfred-Pierre Agache (1843-1915), academic painter

• Robert Arnoux (1899-1964), actor.

• Gilles Béhat (1949~), actor and director.

• Émile Bernard (1868-1941), neoimpressionist painter and friend of Paul Gauguin

• Line Dariel (1886-1956), comedian.

• Alain Decaux (1925~), television presenter, minister, writer, and member of the Académie Française.

• Raoul de Godewaersvelde (1928-1977), singer.

• Carolus-Duran (1837-1917), painter.

• Julien Duvivier (1896-1967), director.

• Pierre Degeyter (1848-1932), worker and composer of the music of the Internationale.

• Alexandre Desrousseaux (1820-1892), songwriter.

• Yvonne Furneaux (1928~), actress.

• Édouard Lalo (1823-1892), composer.

• Philippe Noiret (1930~), actor.

• Antoine Renard (1825-1872), composer (Temps des cerises).

• Albert Samain (1858-1900), poet.

• Léopold Simons (1901-1979), poet, caricaturist, painter, sculptor.

Politicians and Military

• Lydéric, (620-?) legendary founder of the city.

• Jeanne de Flandre, (1188/1200? -1244), Countess.

• Jeanne Maillotte, (circa 1580), resistance fighter during the Hurlus attacks.

• Louis Faidherbe (1818-1889), general, founder of the city of Dakar and senator.

• Achille Liénart (1884-1973), « cardinal des ouvriers ».

• Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), general, resistance fighter, President of France.

• Roger Salengro (1890-1936), minister, deputy, and Mayor of Lille.

• Augustin Laurent (1896-1990), minister, deputy, resistance fighter, and Mayor of Lille.

• Madeleine Damerment (1917-1944), French Resistance fighter - Legion of Honor, Croix de Guerre, Médaille combattant volontaire de la Résistance

• Pierre Mauroy (1928~), deputy, senator, Prime Minister of France, and Mayor of Lille.

• Martine Aubry (1950~), deputy, minister, and Mayor of Lille

Miscellaneous    

Lille has one of France's largest university student population with, depending on the information source, from 95,000 to 149,533 students in 2002-2003. The urban area is one of the biggest in France with more than 1 million inhabitants.

The Euralille urban development project, centred around the new TGV station has fostered a long debate among Lille's citizens. The project has finally been completed with modern architecture and disruption to the ancient city center.

• Lille was elected European Capital of Culture in 2004, along with the Italian city of Genoa
• Lille is part of the Lille Métropole Communauté urbaine (formerly also known as C.U.D.L.).
• Lille's Soccer club the Lille Olympique Sporting Club is one of the major teams in the French Soccer league, has won 8 major national trophies and now reagularly features in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup.
• The European Railway Agency (http://www.era.eu.int/) has offices in Lille and Valenciennes.

Credits : This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lille".