Levallois-Perret

Levallois-Perret is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department and Île-de-France region of north-central France. It lies on the right bank of the Seine, some 6 km from the centre of Paris in the north-western suburbs of the French capital. It is the most densely populated town in Europe and, together with neighbouring Neuilly-sur-Seine, one of the most expensive suburbs of Paris.

Name
The name Levallois-Perret comes from two housing developments, Champerret (started by landowner Jean-Jacques Perret in 1822) and Village Levallois (founded by developer Nicolas-Eugène Levallois in 1845), which resulted in the incorporation of the commune.

History
On the territory of what is now Levallois-Perret, before the French Revolution, stood the village of Villiers and the hamlet of Courcelles (or La Planchette). They now give their names to two Paris Métro stations. At the time of the creation of French communes during the French Revolution, they were part of the commune of Clichy, and the commune of Neuilly-sur-Seine extended over what is now the south-western part of Levallois-Perret.

Landowner Jean-Jacques Perret initiated a number of housing developments in 1822 in the northeast of the commune of Neuilly-sur-Seine, in a place which soon came to be known as Champerret ("champ Perret": "Perret field") and would later give its name to a station on the Paris Métro. Later in 1845, Nicolas-Eugène Levallois began to develop housing on behalf of André Noël, who owned land near La Planchette (in the commune of Clichy). The land developed by Levallois soon became known as the Village Levallois.

In the 1860s, the village had grown to the point of forming a single built-up area and several requests were made to the authorities for the area to be incorporated as a commune. Eventually the requests were acceded to and on 30 June 1866 the commune of Levallois-Perret was eventually created by detaching that part of the territory of Clichy on which the Village Levallois stood and merging it with that part of Neuilly-sur-Seine occupied by Champerret.

The Eiffel company had its factory in the commune, and it was therefore in Levallois-Perret that the structures of both the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower were built.

Levallois-Perret became an important centre of the early French automotive industry with the establishment there of such companies as Clément-Bayard, Delage, and the coachbuilders Chapron and Faget & Varnet. Citroën purchased the Clément-Bayard factory and produced the famous Citroën 2CV there for nearly forty years. Levallois-Perret was also an important centre of the cosmetics industry in the early 20th century. It is also home to the large European commercial real estate company Atisreal and to the conglomerate Alstom.

The northern part of the famous Île de la Jatte, in the river Seine, is where French impressionist painters created many of their masterpieces.

Patrick Balkany had been the mayor of Levallois-Perret from 2001 until 2020. He was also mayor during the period 1983–95. The current mayor, elected in 2020, is Agnès Pottier-Dumas.

Twin towns

 * Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium
 * The Schöneberg district of Berlin, Germany

Adjoining communes
Clockwise from the north:
 * Asnières-sur-Seine
 * Clichy
 * Paris
 * Neuilly-sur-Seine
 * Courbevoie

Administration
Levallois-Perret makes up the whole of the canton of Levallois-Perret.

Economy
Alstom has its headquarters in Levallois-Perret. Speed Rabbit Pizza also has its headquarters in the commune. EVA Air has its Paris office in Levallois-Perret. According to Le Journal du Net, the debt per inhabitant of Levallois is 9,030 euros, the French record. Saft Groupe S.A., a subsidiary of Total S.A. in the battery manufacturing industry, is also based in Levallois-Perret.

Previously, Carrefour had its head office in Levallois-Perret.

Education
Public preschools and elementary schools:
 * Alfred-de-Musset
 * Anatole-France
 * Buffon
 * George-Sand
 * Jules-Ferry
 * Maurice-Ravel
 * Saint-Exupéry
 * Edith Gorce-Franklin (intercommunal school in Neuilly-sur-Seine which serves residents of Levallois in île de la Jatte, quai Charles-Pasqua, and adjacent and/or parallel streets)

Public preschools:
 * Charles-Perrault
 * Jean-Jaurès
 * Louis-Pasteur

Public elementary schools:
 * Françoise-Dolto
 * Jean-de-La-Fontaine

Private preschools and elementary schools:
 * Ecole maternelle et élémentaire Sainte-Marie-de-la-Providence
 * Ecole maternelle et élémentaire Emilie-Brandt

Junior high schools (public junior high schools are operated by the department of Hauts-de-Seine):
 * Collège Danton
 * Collège Jean-Jaurès
 * Collège Louis-Blériot
 * Collège privé Saint-Justin

Senior high schools/sixth-form colleges (public high schools/sixth-form colleges are operated by the Île-de-France region ): Lycée Montalembert is in nearby Courbevoie
 * Lycée Léonard de Vinci

Post-secondary:
 * École supérieure des techniques aéronautiques et de construction automobile (FR) are in the city.

Transport
Levallois-Perret is served by three stations on Paris Métro Line 3: Louise Michel, Anatole France, and Pont de Levallois – Bécon.

It is also served by Clichy – Levallois station on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line.

The municipality of Levallois-Perret operates two free bus lines circulating the town.

Sport
Levallois Sporting Club is one of the most important sports club in France with 14500 members. Among them you can find notable sportsperson like Teddy Riner, Gauthier Grumier and Gévrise Émane. During his youth Didier Drogba played for the football section, as Joakim Noah did in basketball before moving to the United States for high school and college play and eventually the NBA.

LSC continues to operate teams in a wide variety of sports, but basketball is no longer among them. In 2007, the LSC basketball section merged with Paris Basket Racing, creating Paris-Levallois Basket, which after two name changes in the last half of the 2010s is now known as Metropolitans 92.

Coat of arms
The traditional coat of arms for the municipality puts emphasis on the importance of industry in its history. The centre of the arms consists of a shield with red background; a yellow gearwheel in the bottom left and a yellow perfume diffuser in the top right represent the mechanical and perfume industries.

Three red bees, are depicted on a silver bend from the top left to bottom right of the shield, these are another symbol of work in the city, beekeeping taking place at the île de la Jatte. The coat of arms also has a wreath at the bottom around the shield and three castles topping the shield; both in yellow. VILLE DE / LEVALLOIS – PERRET, is inscribed in black letters above the coat of arms.

A cartoon-style bee is used in the modern emblem of the municipality.

Personalities

 * Clare Anderson (1909–1996), performer at the Casino de Paris, lived here
 * Richard Aurili, sculptor, lived here
 * Olivier Besancenot (1974), politician
 * Freda Betti (1924–1979), opera singer married in Levallois-Perret in 1949
 * Henri Betti (1917–2005), composer resident in Levallois-Perret when he married in 1949
 * Clotilde Courau (1969), actress
 * Jules David (1848–1923), photographer
 * Danièle Delorme (1926–2015), actress and film producer
 * Gauthier Diafutua (1985), footballer
 * Sofiane Feghouli (1989), footballer
 * René Hervil (1881–1960), actor, screenwriter and film director
 * Pascal Lamy (1947), director-general of the World Trade Organization
 * Renald Metelus, footballer
 * Louise Michel (1830–1905), French anarchist, is buried in the local cemetery
 * William Snook (1861–1916), English running champion, was living in the town in September 1895, when he was accused of theft. He was subsequently acquitted, although his English landlord was convicted
 * Louis Trousselier (1881–1939), cyclist
 * Roger Rabiniaux (1914–1986), prefect, writer and poet
 * Gustave Eiffel (1832–1923), architect; in 1866, set up his own workshops at 48 Rue Fouquet