Among the personalities present at the funeral of Jean-Claude Gaudin in Marseille on May 23, 2024, were Martine Vassal, president of the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis; Renaud Muselier, president of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region; Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, Secretary of State for Citizenship; Christophe Béchu, Minister of Ecological Transition; former president Nicolas Sarkozy; Prince Albert II of Monaco; Brigitte Macron; Senate President Gérard Larcher; and Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan. The funeral service for Gaudin, who served as mayor of Marseille and vice-president of the Senate, was held in the Cathedral of Saint Mary Major, with a mix of political figures and local leaders in attendance.
Missing from the sunny afternoon funeral was the mass public turnout seen at previous funerals in the same location, such as those of Bernard Tapie in 2021 and Gaston Defferre in 1986. Only 1,500 people, including 700 invited guests, filled the cathedral, leaving the cathedral plaza surprisingly empty as the funeral procession departed for the Mazargues cemetery where Gaudin was buried in the family tomb. This absence of what Gaudin referred to as the “people of Marseille” suggests a definitive turning of the page in the city after the change in political leadership in June 2020.
Jean-Claude Gaudin was intimately familiar with the route from city hall on the Old Port to the Cathedral of Saint Mary Major, a path he often walked to attend mass, confess, or chat with friends who were prelates. Three days after his death from a heart attack at his residence in Saint-Zacharie, Var, the funeral procession followed the same path symbolically. It stopped at city hall so that Gaudin could see the windows of his office one last time, before continuing on to the cathedral with its Byzantine decorations. Gaudin had wished for a funeral in the small church of Mazargues, his childhood neighborhood in the south of Marseille, but concerns about managing the guest list led his friends to choose a larger venue.
The funeral marked the end of an era in Marseille, as noted by former LR deputy Guy Teissier, who commented on the burial of a long-standing political life with Gaudin’s passing. The former mayor’s dream of being laid to rest in the church in Mazargues was not realized, but the grandeur of the ceremony at the cathedral reflected the impact and legacy of his four terms in office. Gaudin was known for his deep Catholic faith and passion for electoral politics, making his funeral a fitting tribute to a man who devoted much of his life to public service.
