Liévin is a chief canton and town in northern France, in the département of Pas-de-Calais (62). It is part of the communauté d'agglomération of Lens-Liévin (Communaupole), which comprises 36 communes and a quarter-million inhabitants. The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties and are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. ... Pas-de-Calais is a département in northern France named after the strait which it borders. ... A communauté dagglomération is an administrative division in France, larger than a commune, but smaller than a département. ... Lens is commune in northern France, in the Pas-de-Calais département. ... The communauté dagglomération of Lens-Liévin was created on January 1, 2000. ... The commune is an administrative division of France. ...

Its population as of 1999 was 33,943 in the city, 21,622 in the northern canton and 25,766 in the southern canton. 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

Overview

The city of Liévin is an old mining city of Pas-de-Calais. Near Lens, this modest-sized city nevertheless has several nursery schools, schools, colleges, a university, a swimming pool, a city library, a cultural and social center (CCS), a hospital, a covered stadium, several gardens and parks, two movie theaters, two cemeteries, a Catholic church, a shopping center, a National Police station, a fire station, a complete intercommunity transportation system (Tadao [1] (http://tadao.fr)), regional newspapers, the main ones being La Voix du Nord (Voice of the North) and Nord Éclair (Northern Flash), etc. The city has also recently acquired ADSL connectivity. Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is a form of DSL, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional modem can provide. ...

East of Pas-de-Calais (Béthune, Lens, Hénin-Beaumont)

History

Prehistory

The history of Liévin begins very early. The foothill of Riaumont (highest point in Liévin) is a rich archaeological site. Traces of Neolithic and Gallo-Roman periods have been found there, and 752 tombs attest that Liévin was once a Merovingian burial ground. The Neolithic, (Greek neos=new, lithos=stone, or New Stone Age) is traditionally the last part of the stone age. ... This article covers the culture of Romanized areas of Gaul. ... For other uses of the term Merovingian, see Merovingian (disambiguation). ...

Agriculture and mining begin

In 1414, there were barely 150 inhabitants in Liévin. At that point it was a village mainly concerned with agriculture. Up until World War I, the population steadily grew: Events Council of Constance begins. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ...

• 600 inhabitants in 1759
• 900 inhabitants in 1789
• 1223 inhabitants in 1820

Coal was discovered in the vicinity of Liévin in 1857. This precipitated an explosion of productivity, prosperity, and population. The population of Liévin was 25,698 in 1914. 1759 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground either by underground mining, open-pit mining or strip mining. ... 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1914 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Liévin during the World Wars

The First World War brutally ended Liévin's expansion. The city was ruined, the churches and castles destroyed. Human losses were 400 civilian and 600 military. The city of Liévin was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1920. The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of both Belgium and France which was first created in 1915. ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ...

After the war, it was necessary to rebuild everything. After a few years, Liévin was again an active city, and mining recommenced.

The Second World War again stopped the progress of the city. In 1940, Liévin was evacuated, and the city was settled by Germans. Resistance was organized, in particular with the help of the Voix du Nord newspaper. In this war, there were 220 civilian and 225 military casualties. Liévin was liberated on September 2, 1944 by the British Eighth Army. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... September 2 is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years). ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

After the war, mining recommenced in force; coal mining was vital to the reconstruction of the French economy. Silicosis, which would kill many miners, made its appearance. Pneumoconiosis is a lung condition caused by the inhalation of dust, characterized by formation of nodular fibrotic changes in lungs. ...

End of coal mining

In addition to silicosis, miners were in daily peril of being lost in mining catastrophes. There were five major mining catastrophes during the coal mining period:

• November 28, 1861, pit 1, 2 dead
• August 13, 1882, pit 3, 8 dead
• January 14, 1885, pit 1, 28 dead
• March 16, 1957, pit 3, 10 dead
• December 27, 1974, Saint-Amé pit, 42 dead

Additionally, a recession in the mining industry began and with it a recession in Liévin. From 1960 to 1970, 60 of the 67 pits closed, Following the tragedy in Saint-Amé, the last pit closed in 1974. Liévin no longer produces coal, and has moved on to a new chapter. November 28 is the 332nd day (333rd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ... 1882 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... January 14 is the 14th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1885 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). ... 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... December 27 is the 361st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ...

Liévin without coal

Liévin suffered a great deal from the abandonment of coal; the whole city depended on the mines. Fortunately, the city reconverted and, although it may not have the same economic dynamism of that epoch, the commercial and industrial areas are a source of employment for many, and the city remains relatively prosperous with 33,430 inhabitants (see above).

Mayors of Liévin since the French Revolution

• 1790-1810, Procope-Alexandre-Joseph de Ligne
• 1810-1819, Pierre Caron
• 1820-1822, Jacques Delaby
• 1822-1825, Pierre Caron
• 1825-1856, Henri-Antoine de Ligne
• 1856-1871, Nicolas Antoine Delaby
• 1871-1878, Alexandre-Procope Comte Jonglez de Ligne
• 1879-1892, Louis Schmidt
• 1892, Félix Pamart
• 1893-1905, Edouard Defernez
• 1905-1912, Arthur Lamendin
• 1912-1913, Pierre Leroy
• 1914, François Pouvier
• 1914-1919 : (evacuation)
• 1919-1925, Léon Degreaux
• 1925-1929, Jules Bédart
• 1930-1935, Silas Goulet
• 1936-1939, Henri-Joseph Thiébaut
• 1939-1944, Louis Thobois
• 1944-1945, Henri Bertin
• 1945-1947, Florimond Lemaire
• 1947-1952, Eugène Gossart
• 1952-1981, Henri Darras
• 1981- present, Jean-Pierre Kucheida

The period of the French Revolution in the history of France covers the years between 1789 and 1799, in which democrats and republicans overthrew the absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo radical restructuring. ...

Miscellaneous

Famous people from Liévin include:

• Georges Carpentier, boxer, born in Liévin 1894
• Robert Enrico, director, born in Liévin 1931

Twin towns : Georges Carpentier (January 12, 1894 - October 28, 1975) was a French boxer. ... Boxer redirects here; for other meanings of boxer, see Boxer (disambiguation). ... 1894 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

• since 1962, Hohenlimburg, near Hagen (Germany),
• since 1999, Bruck an der Mur (Austria) and Pasvalys (Lithuania),
• since 2000, Rybnik, (Poland) and La Valette-du-Var (France).