L'Haÿ-les-Roses

L'Haÿ-les-Roses is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 8.5 km from the centre of Paris. L'Haÿ-les-Roses is a subprefecture of the Val-de-Marne département, being the seat of the Arrondissement of L'Haÿ-les-Roses. The current mayor, serving until 2026, is Vincent Jeanbrun, from the Republicans party.

L'Haÿ-les-Roses owes the second part of its name to the Roseraie du Val-de-Marne rose garden located there.

Name
The commune of L'Haÿ-les-Roses was originally called simply L'Haÿ. The name was recorded for the first time in a charter of Charlemagne in 798 as Laiacum, sometimes also spelt Lagiacum, meaning "estate of Lagius", a Gallo-Roman landowner. The name was later corrupted into Lay, Lahy, before it eventually went back to L'Haÿ.

In May 1914 the name of the commune became officially L'Haÿ-les-Roses (meaning "L'Haÿ the roses") in honour of the Roseraie du Val-de-Marne (or Roseraie de L'Haÿ), the renowned rose garden created in 1899 by Jules Gravereaux, one of the founders of the Bon Marché department store in Paris.

It is one of the very few French communes with a "ÿ" in its name. A full list of French toponyms containing "ÿ" can be found here.

Education
Primary schools in the commune:
 * Seven preschools: Blondeaux, La Roseraie, Garennes, Jardin Parisien, Lallier I, Lallier II, Vallée-aux-Renards
 * Seven elementary schools: Blondeaux, Centre, Jardin Parisien A, Jardin Parisien B, Lallier A, Lallier B, Vallée-aux-Renards

Junior high schools: Collège Pierre de Ronsard and Collège Chevreul.

Senior high schools/sixth-form colleges are in surrounding municipalities:
 * Lycée Frédéric Mistral - Fresnes
 * Lycée d’enseignement général et technologique Gustave Eiffel - Cachan
 * Lycée polyvalent Maximilien Sorre - Cachan
 * Lycée polyvalent Pauline Roland Chevilly-Larue - Chevilly-Larue

Transports

 * Paris Métro Line 14 : L'Haÿ-les-Roses station.

Notable people

 * Arthur Bernède (1871–1937), playwright and novelist
 * Michel Eugène Chevreul (1786–1889), chemist
 * Marcelle Géniat (1881–1959), actress
 * Pierre Gandon (1889–1990), illustrator and engraver of postage stamps.
 * Alain Delon (1935) actor, singer, filmmaker, and businessman
 * Jean-Marc Rouvière (1958), essayist
 * Franck Lagorce (1968), automobile race driver
 * Cécile Cinélu (1970), athlete
 * Clémence Poésy (1982), actress
 * Alaixys Romao (1984), footballer

International relations
L'Haÿ-les-Roses is twinned with:
 * Omagh, United Kingdom
 * 🇩🇪 Bad Hersfeld, Germany