A Tomb That The Public Believed Could Make Women Fertile

Victor Noir (27 July 1848 – 11 January 1870) was a French journalist. He was was a contributor to the French newspaper La Marseillaise. He was shot and killed by Prince Pierre Bonaparte, a cousin of the French Emperor Napoleon III (1852–1870), after the publication of an article that criticized the prince's great-uncle, Napoleon Bonaparte himself.

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In 1891, with the establishment of the Third French Republic, the journalist's body was exhumed and transferred to the Père Lachaise cemetery to honor his name and memory. The bronze sculpture that serves as a tombstone was made by Jules Dalou, a famous French artist at the time.

Dalou decided to carve a statue of Victor Noir as he lay dead on the floor after being shot as well as carve a bulge that bulges into his crotch, just below the belt, for no known reason.

There are many urban legends say that if a woman kisses the Victor Noir statue on the lips, rubs the bulge in her crotch, and drops a flower on her hat, she will be more fertile and enjoy a better intimate life.

There are some variations on this ritual: for example, if someone wants to get a good-looking lover, she only has to kiss the lips of the statue. But, if what she is looking for is a pregnancy, it is enough to touch her right foot. On the other hand, to get twins you must touch the left foot.

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According to the beliefs of the locals, following these indications any woman will conceive in a short time. And those who are single will find a husband in less than a year. The bronze statue of Victor Noir became tangible proof of how deeply rooted this myth is in Parisian culture.

In 2004, a fence was erected around the statue to prevent it from being touched. However, after protests by "Ladies of Paris", led by French TV presenter Peri Cochin, the fence was removed.

Victor Noir became a symbol of opposition to the imperial regime. His tomb in a Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris has become a fertility symbol until now.