The Square and garden was established in Paris in 1932. It was re-named Aspirant Dunand Square after the death of French World War II soldier Jean-Louis Dunand (1918-1940), who died in action on 20 June 1940, at the age of 22, when his squadron was fighting a German unit. When he was a child, he lived near the Square. His father Jean Dunand (1877-1942) was a famous Swiss sculptor and painter, who moved to France in 1904.
The Square has a children’s playground, basketball court, small water fountain, and statues. The bas-relief fountain was created by the French sculptor August Gilbert Privat (1892-1969). Two women are fetching water from a masked face that represents the river gods of antiquity. The playground and basketball court were added to the garden in 1982.
The garden also commemorates the Lebanese poet and painter Khalil Gibran (1883-1931) with the planting of a Lebanese Cedar tree in 1996.
There is also a stone and marble monument dedicated to Michel Servet (1511-1553), a Spanish doctor and philosopher of the Renaissance. He moved to France in 1548. Executed by the Inquisition, Michel Servet is considered to be one of the martyrs of freedom of thought. French sculptor Jean Baffier created the statue in 1908, which was intended to be located in another park.
The garden has about 40 trees, mostly Plane Trees.
Photographed in Paris, France, November 2022.
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
MARTINA NICOLLS – MartinaNicollsWebsite
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