Source
r/French•
Ruufles

Help with a headstone inscription.

Advice

Sorry if this is a weird one guys, but...

I am in the middle of arranging my father's headstone. He was fluent in French, lived on and off in France and in general was a complete Francophile. As a family we decided we wanted to have 'In memory of ...' written in French on his headstone.

Which would be more appropriate as an epithet? 'À la mémoire de ...' or 'En la mémoire de ...'? Is one more suited to a headstone than another? Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

Merci mes amis pour votre aide xx

Posted Jul 23, 2021, 3:02 PM UTC

2310
Cervino_1Native•

À la mémoire de… En souvenir de…

15
RuuflesOP•

Merci!

1
dddddaviddddC1 (Canada)•

You could also get some inspiration by virtually touring a French cemetery: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/639018/famous-memorials?page=1#sr-32

11
SinisterSynth•

It really depends on the next word you will choose but if it’s a person you may choose ‘’À la mémoire de…’’

3
RuuflesOP•

Thank you so so much - yes it will be followed by my father's name so I think 'À la mémoire de…' will be perfect. I ran 'En souvenir de...' past my mum and she said it didn't quite have the right feel as in English a 'souvenir' is something tacky you bring back with you from your day trip to Brighton beach haha.

4
Appropriate_Alarm_43•

Make 100% certain that the French is correctly spelled, and run it by a few friends to make sure it's 100% correct before you lay it down on stone.

2
RuuflesOP•

I will do! For certain, thank you for your consideration :)

2
Kooky_Protection_334•

Clearly she doesn't speak french. That doesn't sound weird or tacky at all

-6
RuuflesOP•

She doesn't speak French, but I agreed with her since to us, in our native language, the word 'souvenir' is associated with cheap nik-naks you bring home with you from your holidays. Of course I don't think its tacky for French speaking people, but since this is my dad's grave I think we're entitled to be picky about our word choice and how those words make us feel.

8
TomSwirlyC2•

Clearly she doesn't speak french.

In common with most of the people who will see the headstone...

1