Tribute to Hélène Vagliano
Tribute to Hélène Vagliano
On August 15 in Cannes, on Assumption Day, a mass in honor of Hélène Vaglianano was given in the Cannes Russian church. The young resistant, of Orthodox confession, was arrested on August 15, 1945 during the second World War and was tortured to death by the German Gestapo. The Russian church is located boulevard Alexandre III (boulevard that changed name on november 22, 1894 in honor of the Russian emperor Alexander III) and here in 1921 was celebrated the marriage of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich and the ballerina Kshesinkaia. Famous people are buried there such as Archpriest Gregory Ostroumov, who worked in the construction of the temple, Prince Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg, the Grand Duke Nicolas Romanov and his wife Anastasia, or the Grand Duke Peter Nikolayevich Romanov and wife Milica Nicolaevna, daughter of King Nicolas 1st of Montenegro. Today, the Russian church of Saint Michael the Archangel, in process of restoration, is one of the architectural treasures of the city of Cannes and is in the heart of the spiritual life of the Orthodox community. And it is in the crypt at the foot of Helène Vagliano's tomb, that the commemoration took place, in the presence of Eric Harson, Deputy to Culture and the national association of former resistance fighters, led by Alfred Pisi. Strays of flowers were placed at the end of the religious ceremony. An hour before the Mass given by Archpriest Michael Boikov, the ANACR paid tribute as each year to eight resistants also shot down by the Cannes Gestapo in front of the Montfleury hotel in Cannes.
