Neuilly-sur-Seine

Neuilly-sur-Seine is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 6.8 km from the center of Paris.

Although Neuilly is technically a suburb of Paris, it is immediately adjacent to the city and directly extends it. The area is composed of mostly wealthy, select residential neighbourhoods, as well as the headquarters of many corporations. It is often lumped together with some areas of the neighbouring 16th arrondissement of Paris as Auteuil-Neuilly-Passy, a compendium of "bourgeois" (i.e., upscale) neighbourhoods.

History
The origins of Neuilly-sur-Seine's name are quite confused and controversial. Originally, Neuilly was a small hamlet under the jurisdiction of Villiers, a larger settlement mentioned in medieval sources as early as 832 and now absorbed by the commune of Levallois-Perret. It was not until 1222 that the little settlement of Neuilly, established on the banks of the Seine, was mentioned for the first time in a charter of the Abbey of Saint-Denis: the name was recorded in Medieval Latin as Portus de Lulliaco, meaning "Port of Lulliacum". In 1224 another charter of Saint-Denis recorded the name as Lugniacum. In a sales contract dated 1266 the name was also recorded as Luingni.

In 1316, however, in a ruling of the parlement of Paris, the name was recorded as Nully, quite a different name from those recorded before. In a document dated 1376 the name was again recorded as Nulliacum (the Medieval Latin version of Nully). Then in the following centuries the name recorded alternated between Luny and Nully, and it is only after 1648 that the name was definitely set as Nully. The name spelt Neuilly after the French Academy standard of pronunciation of the ill as a y (See IPA at the top).

Various explanations and etymologies have been proposed to explain these discrepancies in the names of Neuilly recorded over the centuries. It seems most plausible to consider that the original name of Neuilly was Lulliacum or Lugniacum, and that it was only later corrupted into Nulliacum / Nully. Some interpret Lulliacum or Lugniacum as meaning "estate of Lullius (or Lunius)", probably a Gallo-Roman landowner. This interpretation is based on the many placenames of France made up of the names of Gallo-Roman landowners and suffixed with the traditional placename suffix "-acum". However, other researchers object that it is unlikely that Neuilly owes its name to a Gallo-Roman patronym, because during the Roman occupation of Gaul the area of Neuilly was inside the large Forest of Rouvray, of which the Bois de Boulogne is all that remains today, and was probably not settled yet.

These researchers contend that it is only after the fall of the Roman Empire and the Germanic invasions that the area of Neuilly was deforested and settled. Thus, they think that the name Lulliacum or Lugniacum comes from the ancient Germanic word lund meaning "forest", akin to Old Norse lundr meaning "grove", to which the placename suffix "-acum" was added. The Old Norse word lundr has indeed left many placenames across Europe, such as the city of Lund in Sweden, the Forest of the Londe in Normandy, or the many English placenames containing "lound", "lownde", or "lund" in their name, or ending in "-land". However, this interesting theory fails to explain why the "d" of lund is missing in Lulliacum or Lugniacum.

Concerning the discrepancy in names over the centuries, the most probable explanation is that the original name Lulliacum or Lugniacum was later corrupted into Nulliacum / Nully by inversion of the consonants, perhaps under the influence of an old Celtic word meaning "swampy land, boggy land" (as was the land around Neuilly-sur-Seine in ancient times) which is found in the name of many French places anciently covered with water, such as Noue, Noë, Nouan, Nohant, etc. Or perhaps the consonants were simply inverted under the influence of the many settlements of France called Neuilly (a frequent placename whose etymology is completely different from the special case of Neuilly-sur-Seine).

Until the French Revolution, the settlement was often referred to as Port-Neuilly, but at the creation of French communes in 1790 the "Port" was dropped and the newly born commune was named simply Neuilly.

On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes. On that occasion, a part of the territory of Neuilly-sur-Seine was annexed by the city of Paris, and forms now the neighborhood of Ternes, in the 17th arrondissement of Paris.

On 11 January 1867, part of the territory of Neuilly-sur-Seine was detached and merged with a part of the territory of Clichy to create the commune of Levallois-Perret.

On 2 May 1897, the commune name officially became Neuilly-sur-Seine (meaning "Neuilly upon Seine"), in order to distinguish it from the many communes of France also called Neuilly. However, most people continue to refer to Neuilly-sur-Seine as simply "Neuilly". During the 1900 Summer Olympics, it hosted the basque pelota events.

In 1919, the Treaty of Neuilly was signed with Bulgaria in Neuilly-sur-Seine to conclude its role in World War I.

In 1929, the Bois de Boulogne, which was hitherto divided between the communes of Neuilly-sur-Seine and Boulogne-Billancourt, was annexed in its entirety by the city of Paris.

Main sights
It is the site of the Château de Neuilly, an important royal residence during the July Monarchy.

Transport
Neuilly-sur-Seine is served by three stations on Paris Métro Line 1: Porte Maillot (with a direct access to RER line C), Les Sablons and Pont de Neuilly.

RATP Bus service includes the lines 43, 73, 82, 93, 157, 158, 163, 164, 174

Night Bus lines include N11 and N24.

Economy
Thales Group is headquartered Neuilly-sur-Seine. The International Herald Tribune, the global edition of the The New York Times newspaper, is also headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Famous residents

 * Mary Wollstonecraft, English writer who came to France during the Revolution as a war correspondent
 * Natalie Barney, American heiress, early C20
 * Jacques Prévert, poet and screenwriter (most famously Children of Paradise), was born in Neuilly, as was the famous animator *Paul Grimault. Indeed, these two collaborated on a number of movies, and mention the Neuilly festival in Le Roi et l'oiseau, while Prévert mentions the Neuilly festival in his poem "La Fête à Neuilly", in Histoires, 1946.
 * Mireille Mathieu, chanson singer, has been a resident since 1965.
 * Jacqueline François, chanson singer, A native of Neuilly Born: 30 January 1922 Died: 7 March 2009.
 * Albert Uderzo, writer and illustrator of the Asterix comic books, lives in Neuilly.
 * Eça de Queiroz, great Portuguese writer, journalist and diplomat.
 * Liliane Bettencourt, L'Oreal heiress and richest woman in France.
 * Anaïs Nin, author and diarist. Born in Neuilly sur Seine, 21. February 1903.
 * Wassily Kandinsky Russian Abstract-Expressionist born: December 16, 1866, died: December 13, 1944
 * Carole Bouquet, actress most famous for her appearance in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only. Born there on 18 August 1957.
 * Marine Le Pen, National Front politician, daughter of FN founder and leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.
 * Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France since 2007, was mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1983 to 2002.
 * H. Claude Pissarro, artist, son of Paul-Emile Pissarro, grandson of Camille b 1935

Twin towns
Neuilly-sur-Seine is twinned with:
 * 🇧🇪 Uccle, Belgium
 * Windsor and Maidenhead, United Kingdom
 * 🇩🇪 Hanau, Germany