Victor Noir

Victor Noir, (27 July 1848 in Attigny, Vosges – 11 January 1870 in Paris), was a French journalist who is famous for the manner of his death and its political consequences. His tomb in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris later became a fertility symbol.

Son of a Jewish cobbler who had converted to Catholicism, born Yvan Salmon at Attigny, Vosges, he adopted "Victor Noir" as his pen name after his mother's maiden name. He went to Paris and became an apprentice journalist for the newspaper La Marseillaise, owned and operated by Henri Rochefort and edited by Paschal Grousset.

In December 1869, a dispute broke out between two Corsican newspapers, the radical La Revanche, inspired from afar by Grousset and the loyalist L'Avenir de la Corse, edited by an agent of the Ministry of Interior named Della Rocca. The invective of la Revanche concentrated on Napoleon I. On 30 December, l'Avenir published a letter sent to its editor by Prince Pierre Bonaparte, the great-nephew of Napoleon, and cousin of the then-ruling Emperor Napoleon III. Prince Bonaparte castigated the staff of la Revanche as cowards and traitors. The letter made its way from Bastia to Paris. Grousset took offense and demanded satisfaction. In the meantime, la Marseillaise lent strong support to the cause of la Revanche.

On 9 January 1870, Prince Bonaparte wrote a letter to Rochefort, claiming to uphold the good name of his family:

After having outraged each of my relations, you insult me with the pen of one of your menials. My turn had to come. Only I have an advantage over others of my name, of being a private individual, while being a Bonaparte... I therefore ask you whether your inkpot is guaranteed by your breast... I live, not in a palace, but at 59, rue d'Auteuil. I promise to you that if you present yourself, you will not be told that I left.

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