A legend of French cinema passed away yesterday. Jean-Paul Belmondo, the As of As, died on Monday September 6 at his Parisian home, at the age of 88. The Élysée has already announced this Tuesday the holding of a national tribute to the actor, scheduled for Thursday September 9 at the Invalides, “a place chosen in agreement with the family”, as France Info reports.

“He will forever remain the “Magnificent”. With Jean-Paul Belmondo, a national treasure dies, all in solar gaiety and bursts of laughter. Among our great actors, he was the one who won hands down the palm of the public” , wrote, in a press release published on Monday, the Elysée, which promises “a popular tribute” to Jean-Paul Belmondo. The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, provides “a tribute where the French will feel associated”, according to information from France Info.

According to RTL, registers will be made available to write a few words to this sacred monster of French cinema and the government is considering reserving spaces to lay flowers.

“I believe that the tribute paid to Johnny Hallyday was very beautiful, very strong, and Jean-Paul Belmondo does not deserve less, differently, something else, but the President of the Republic will be able to find”, declared Thierry Frémaux, director of the Lumière Institute of Lyon, general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, Monday at France Info.

The news of the death of Jean-Paul Belmondo was read everywhere in the French press. But internationally too, tributes to Bébel are multiplying. According to BFMTV, The Guardian, a British daily, portrays the “face of the New Wave”, when the New York Times evokes “the magnetic star of the French New Wave”. In Germany, the daily Bild soberly titles in French “Au Revoir Jean-Paul!”.