Notable residents
[edit]
Émile Appay – Menton
Notables who were born, lived, or died in Menton include:
Living people[edit]
Jérôme Alonzo (born 1972), French first division football goalkeeper, born in Menton
Richard Anconina (born 1953), French actor; before his film career he worked for several years at a holiday club for seniors in Menton
Olivier Echouafni (born 1972), French first-division football midfielder, born in Menton
Sébastien Gattuso (born 1971), Monégasque athlete specializing in bobsledding
Cédric Varrault (born 1980), French first-division football defender. He began his career with the Menton football club.
Historical figures[edit]
Émile Appay (1876–1935), French landscape painter. He spent time in Menton over the years capturing paintings of the sea.
Ferdinand Bac (1859–1952), French illustrator, lithographer, and writer. He developed the house and gardens of Les Colombières above Menton for Émile and Caroline Ladan-Bockairy. The house contains frescoes and modernist furniture by Bac, with a large garden set over several levels. Les Colombières is a Monument Historique and has been recently restored.
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley (1872–1898), English illustrator and author
Morton Betts (1847–1914), Leading English sportsman of the late 19th century. Scored the first goal in an English FA Cup Final. Died in Menton.
Lesley Blanch (1904–2007), English-born writer
Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (1867–1928), Spanish author. At the end of his life, he lived on his estate, Fontana Rosa, in Menton.
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881), Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. He lived at the home of Louisa Baring, Lady Ashburton, from December 1866 to March 1867 following the death of his wife Jane Welsh Carlyle.
René Clément (1913–1996), film director
Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), French artist. He spent much time in Menton over the years; the Jean Cocteau Museum is in Menton. He decorated the wedding room in Menton's town hall, and the small stone bastion in Menton's harbour wall.
Alfred Edersheim (1825–1889), Jewish Biblical scholar. He died in Menton.
Michel Evdokimov (1930–2025), theologian and Russian Orthodox priest; born in Menton.
Ivan Grigorovich (1853–1930), Imperial Russian Navy admiral. He lived in Menton after the Russian Revolution.
Alfred Fréderic Hegenscheidt (1866-1964), Belgian professor of Geography (Université Libre de Bruxelles) and best known for his lyric drama Starkadd, published in 1897 in the famous Flemish Literary Magazine Van Nu en Straks.
Panait Istrati (1884–1935), Romanian writer of French and Romanian expression (friends with Romain Rolland). He lived in Menton for a brief period and has a street in Menton named after him.
Joseph Joffo (1931–2018), French author. He lived temporarily in Menton during World War II.
President Paul Kruger spent 2 years in Menton in Exile
Anatoly Lunacharsky (1875–1933), Russian Marxist revolutionary and the first Soviet People's Commissar of Enlightenment responsible for culture and education. He died in Menton.
George Macleay (1809–1891), Australian explorer and politician. He died in Menton.
Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923), New Zealand modernist short story writer who lived and worked in a street now named after her. Her former home, the Villa Isola Bella, is used as the residence for New Zealand writers who receive the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship to live and write there for a year.
James Matheson (1796–1878), Scottish trader in India, co-founder of Jardine Matheson & Co. He died in Menton 31 December 1878 (aged 82).
General Sir Percy Pollexfen de Blaquiere Radcliffe KCB KCMG DSO (1874–1934), British army officer. He owned a house in Menton from 1905 to 1934. Its gardens were the basis for the town's botanical gardens and are named after his first wife Rahmeh.
Anne Redpath (1895–1965), Scottish artist.
Charles H. Spurgeon (1834–1892), British Baptist preacher. He died in Menton.
Graham Sutherland (1903–1980), English painter
Philip Meadows Taylor (1808–1876), British Indian civil servant and author
Hans-Georg Tersling (1857–1920), Danish architect. He designed many buildings in the town.
William Webb Ellis (1806–1872), inventor of rugby. He lived in Menton at the end of his life and is buried in the old cemetery.
William Butler Yeats (1865–1939), Irish writer and poet. He died in Menton.
