In the middle of the busy Odysseum shopping area in Montpellier stands an unusual figure, Lenin. The three-meter bronze statue is part of Memoria Mundi, a group of ten statues about the major political figures of the 20th century. But this Lenin has a very different look to me. I call him Garçon Lenin because he looks less like a revolutionary leader and more like a customer trying to get the waiter’s attention.

The statue stands on the Place du XXe siècle, also known as the Place des Grands Hommes. The square sits next to the Odysseum shopping and leisure center. Shops, restaurants, and visitors surround the statues.

Lenin is shown standing with one arm raised. His pose was meant to suggest a leader speaking to the masses. Yet the raised hand gives the statue another meaning. In a busy French terrace, this could easily be a man trying to catch the waiter’s eye. Perhaps he wants another espresso. Or maybe he’s ready for the bill.

Made by François Cacheux

The statue was made by French sculptor François Cacheux (1923-2011). He won the commission in 2009 to create ten monumental bronze statues for Montpellier. Each figure is about three meters tall.

The first five statues were installed in August 2010. They showed Lenin, Charles de Gaulle, Jean Jaurès, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The other five followed in July 2012. They are Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Mao Zedong, Golda Meir, and Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Georges Frêche’s controversial idea

The project came from Georges Frêche, the former mayor of Montpellier and president of the regional council. He wanted the statues to show people who had shaped the political history of the 20th century.

Lenin caused controversy from the start. Frêche had first considered buying a much older Lenin statue in Seattle. That idea never happened. Instead, he commissioned a new statue from Cacheux.

Frêche did not see Lenin simply as a dictator. He believed the Russian Revolution had changed world history. He wanted the square to show different political ideas, including communism, socialism, liberal democracy, Arab nationalism, and Zionism.

Why is Lenin still there?

The statues were never meant to be simple monuments praising their subjects. They were presented as a way to discuss the major political movements of the last century. An educational center with interactive information was also created beside the square.

That is why Lenin remains in this very public place today. He is part of a larger historical collection, rather than a Soviet monument left behind by history.