Hercule Savinien de Cyrano
In 1385 Ramond de la Rivière was awarded lands situated in the Chevreuse Valley south-west of Paris by King Charles VI, for his contribution to recapturing Bergerac from the English. This led him to name the whole estate Bergerac.
Some 300 years later, it was in these lands that Hercule Savinien de Cyrano spent his childhood.
Born in 1619 in Paris, he embarked at a young age on a brief military career as part of the company of Gascon Musketeers (it was at this time that he added “de Bergerac” to his name) ; then, without renouncing his bitter and quarrelsome spirit, he resumed his studies and made a name for himself in the field of poetry and literature with his visionary and libertarian side. His writings constantly move between intellectual and scientific curiosity. He died in an accident in Paris in 1655.
Edmond Rostand
It was Hercule Savinien who inspired the heroic and poignant character created by Edmond Rostand in 1897 when he first wrote “Cyrano de Bergerac” for the
Porte Saint-Martin theatre.
Today, with no less than 2 statues, the town of Bergerac pays homage to this hero, more present than ever, to whom it owes much of its fame.