HOLOCAUST survivor Simone Veil, one of France’s most revered politicians, has received the rare honour of being buried at the Pantheon, where French heroes are interred, one year after her death.
Veil was being buried Sunday at the Paris monument with her husband Antoine, who died in 2013, in a symbolic ceremony with her family and dozens of dignitaries, including French President Emmanuel Macron and former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande.
Veil repeatedly broke barriers for women in French politics. She was a firm believer in European unification and well known in France for spearheading the legalisation of abortion.
Republican Guard pallbearers carried the coffins to the Pantheon over a blue carpet symbolising the colour of peace, the United Nations and of Europe, as a crowd of thousands applauded.
“France loves Simone Veil,” Macron said. “She lived through the worst of the 20th century and yet fought to make it better.”
Confident that “humanity wins over barbarity”, Veil became a fighter for women’s rights, peace and Europe, he noted.
Veil is the fifth woman to be honoured at the Pantheon, which also holds 72 men.
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