Levallois Perret

Name

The name Levallois-Perret comes from two housing developments, Champerret (started by landowner Jean-Jacques Perret in 1822) and Village Levallois (founded by developer Nicolas-Eugène Levallois in 1845), which resulted in the incorporation of the commune.

History

On the territory of what is now Levallois-Perret, before the French Revolution, the village of Villiers and the hamlet of Courcelles (or La Planchette) were there. They now give their names to two Paris Métro stations. At the time of the creation of French communes during the French Revolution, they were part of the commune of Clichy, and the commune of Neuilly-sur-Seine extended over what is now the south-western part of Levallois-Perret.

Landowner Jean-Jacques Perret started some housing developments in 1822 in the northeast of the commune of Neuilly-sur-Seine, in a place soon called Champerret ("champ perret" meant "field of Perret"), which gave its name to one station of the Paris Métro. Later in 1845, Nicolas-Eugène Levallois started some housing developments for landowner André Noël on his land near La Planchette (in the commune of Clichy). The land developed by Nicolas-Eugène Levallois soon became known as Village Levallois.

In the 1860s, the village had grown to the point of forming a single builtup area. Several demands were made to the authorities for the incorporation of the area, as a commune.

On 30 June 1866, the commune of Levallois-Perret was eventually created by detaching that part of the territory of Clichy where the Village Levallois stood and merging it with that part of the territory of Neuilly-sur-Seine of Champerret.

The Eiffel company had its factory in the city and so the structure of the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower were built there.

Levallois-Perret became an important centre of the early French automotive industry with the establishment of companies such as Clément-Bayard, Delage and coachbuilders Chapron and Faget & Varnet. Citroën purchased the Clément-Bayard factory and the famous Citroën 2CV was produced in Levallois for nearly forty years. Levallois-Perret was also an important centre of cosmetics industry in the early 20th century. It is also home to the large European commercial real estate company Atisreal and the conglomerate Alstom.

The northern part of the famous Île de la Jatte in the river Seine, where French impressionist painters created many of their masterpieces, is part of the commune of Levallois-Perret.

Part of the healthy Ouest Parisien, Levallois-Perret is the most densely-populated commune of France and Europe.

Patrick Balkany has been mayor of the city for almost 20 years in a row; his wife, Isabelle Balkany Smadja, works for the municipality.

Twin towns

Nearest municipalities

Administration

Levallois-Perret constitues one canton: canton of Levallois-Perret.

Economy

Alstom has its headquarters in Levallois-Perret. Speed Rabbit Pizza also has its headquarters in the commune. EVA Air has its Paris office in Levallois-Perret. According to Le Journal du Net, the debt per inhabitant of Levallois is 9,030 euros, the French record.

Previously, Carrefour had its head office in Levallois-Perret.

Education

Public preschools and elementary schools:

Public preschools:

Public elementary schools:

Private preschools and elementary schools:

Junior high schools (public junior high schools are operated by the department of Hauts-de-Seine):

Senior high schools/sixth-form colleges (public high schools/sixth-form colleges are operated by the Ile-de-France region):

Lycée Montalembert is in nearby Courbevoie

Post-secondary:

Transport

Levallois-Perret is served by three stations on Paris Métro Line 3: Louise Michel, Anatole France, and Pont de Levallois – Bécon.

It is also served by Clichy – Levallois station on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line.

The municipality of Levallois-Perret operates two free bus lines circulating the town.

Sport

Levallois Sporting Club is one of the most important sports club in France with 14500 members. Among them you can find notable sportsperson like Teddy Riner, Gauthier Grumier and Gevrise Emane. During his youth Didier Drogba played for the football section, as Joakim Noah did for basket.

Coat of arms

The traditional coat of arms for the municipality puts emphasis on the importance of industry in the its history. The centre of the arms consists of a shield with red background; a yellow gearwheel in the bottom left and a yellow perfume diffuser in the top right represent the mechanical and perfume industries.

Three red bees, are depicted on a silver bend from the top left to bottom right of the shield, these are another symbol of work in the city, beekeeping taking place at the île de la Jatte. The coat of arms also has a wreath at the bottom around the shield and three castles topping the shield; both in yellow. VILLE DE / LEVALLOIS – PERRET, is inscribed in black letters above the coat of arms.

A cartoon-style bee is used in the modern emblem of the municipality.

Personalities