Madame Clicquot

AKA:

Grande Dame of Champagne

Birth Name:

Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin

Birth Date:

December 16, 1777

Birth Place:

Reims, France

Death Date:

July 29, 1866

Place of Death:

Château de Boursault, Boursault, France

Age:

Cause of Death:

Natural causes

Cemetery Name:

Cimetiere du Nord

Claim to Fame:

Business and Finance

Barbe-Nicole grew up as the eldest daughter of one of wealthy textile industry tycoon and personal friend of Napoleon Bonaparte: Ponce Jean Nicolas Philippe. Widowed at age 27, she embarked on a lifelong journey to turn her husbands small winery into one of the largest merchants of champagne that we know and enjoy today. Upon her death at age 88, she went from selling 10,000 bottles in her youth to over 700,000 worldwide. The brand and company of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin still bears her name today.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Cimetiere du Nord

1 bis Rue du Champ de Mars

Reims, , 51100

France

Europe

Map:

Cemetery map of Cimetiere du Nord in Reims, France.

Grave Location:

Canton 2, Chapelle Clicquot-Ponsardin

Grave Location Description

One of the most exceptional monuments can be found behind the Sainte- Croix chapel at the entrance (listed as a historic monument), which is richly decorated and has an eclectic architectural style. As you enter the main gate stay to the left and walk until you come to the end of Canton 2. The vault where Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, known as “Veuve Clicquot” (Widow Clicquot) rests is on your right (her name appears on the other side of the vault).

From the mid-19th century, a number of notable figures created impressive funerary monuments, marking a certain reputation amongst writers, military figures, magistrates, “men of science”, industrialists and many more.
Many of these surnames have been forgotten but the names associated with the champagne houses remain well known in this cemetery including Heidsieck, Krug, Lanson, Pommery, and Roederer.