Lazare Ponticelli 1897 – 2008

Biography

Lazare Ponticelli was born on December 7, 1897, in Bettola, beginning a life that would span more than a century. He came of age during one of history’s most transformative periods, serving his country during World War I. His experience as a soldier during the Great War shaped the man he would become, marking him as part of a generation forever changed by that conflict.

Beyond his military service, Ponticelli built a working life in the skilled trades, laboring as both a piping and metal worker. These crafts demanded precision, strength, and dedication—qualities he evidently possessed throughout his long career. He settled in the Paris region, becoming part of the French community where he would spend his remaining decades.

Ponticelli lived to see the twentieth century give way to the twenty-first, passing away on March 12, 2008, in Le Kremlin-Bicêtre at the remarkable age of 110. His final resting place is at Cimetière parisien d’Ivry in Ivry-sur-Seine, France, where he joins others in that peaceful cemetery. His life stands as a testament to endurance and service across an extraordinary span of years.