Claude Tillier in Clamecy, Nièvre (58)

Claude Tillier's bust stands tall in the Place du Grand Marché in Clamecy. It was erected in 1905, with Jules Renard giving a speech. Tillier was born in 1801 in Clamecy in died in Nevers in 1844, and was a pamphleteer and novelist most remembered for his novel Mon oncle Benjamin, which was adapted for the cinema in 1969, directed by Édouard Molinaro and starring Jacques Brel. George Brassens said 'Quiconque n'a pas lu Mon Oncle Benjamin ne peut se dire de mes amis': 'Anyone who hasn't read Mon oncle Benjamin can't be classed among my friends.'His pamphlets attacked the notable citizens of Nevers, as well as the ruling classes in general. Members of the Resistance hid his bust from the Nazis in 1941 and only returned it after the war. He died of tuberculosis.