Commentry

Commentry
Town hall
Town hall
Coat of arms of Commentry
Location of Commentry
Commentry is located in France
Commentry
Commentry
Location within France
Commentry is located in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Commentry
Commentry
Location within Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Coordinates: 46°17′23″N 2°44′32″E / 46.2897°N 2.7422°E / 46.2897; 2.7422
CountryFrance
RegionAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes
DepartmentAllier
ArrondissementMontluçon
CantonCommentry
IntercommunalityCommentry Montmarault Néris Communauté
Government
 • Mayor (2026–32) Sylvain Bourdier
Area
1
20.96 km2 (8.09 sq mi)
Population
 (2023)
6,017
 • Density287.1/km2 (743.5/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
03082 /03600
Elevation332–462 m (1,089–1,516 ft)
(avg. 385 m or 1,263 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Commentry (French pronunciation: [kɔmɑ̃tʁi]; Auvergnat: Comentriac; Marchois: Comentric) is a commune in the department of Allier in central France. It lies 42 miles (68 km) southwest of Moulins in the valley of the Œil. It is within 8 km of one of the geographic centres of France. The film actress Yvonne Rozille (1900–1985) was born in Commentry.

Population

History

Commentry was home to Compagnie de Commentry-Fourchambault-Decazeville, thanks to an important coal deposit. The coal mine fueled a huge growth in population, from under 1,000 to more than 12,000, while Stéphane Mony was its CEO (1840–1884). Commentry was the first commune ever to elect a socialist mayor: Christophe Thivrier was elected 6 June 1882.

During the repression of January and February 1894, the police conducted raids targeting the anarchists living there, without much success.

The Socialist Party of France was founded in Commentry in September 1902.

Economy

Commentry gave its name to a coal field over 21 square kilometres in extent, and historically had important foundries and forges.

Science

Charles Brongniart discovered many fossils near Commentry, including Meganeura in the Stephanian stage coal measures in 1880.

Personalities

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 5 May 2026.
  2. ↑ "Populations de référence 2023" (in French). National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 18 December 2025.
  3. ↑ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Commentry, EHESS (in French).
  4. ↑ Population municipale entre 1968 et 2023, INSEE
  5. ↑ (in French) L'Administration industrielle et générale par Henri Fayol ISBN 978-2-903628-09-3 https://f-origin.hypotheses.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/1931/files/2016/09/Fayol-1916.pdfArchived 2019-02-07 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ (in French) Election of the first socialist mayor Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ "Les anarchistes" [The anarchists]. La Dépêche. 3 January 1894. p. 2.
  8. ↑ "Deux mille perquisitions". L'Estafette: 2. 2 January 1894.
  9. ↑ "Une série générale de perquisitions : résultat négatif des recherches" [A general series of raids: negative results]. L'Éclair. 3 January 1894.
  10. ↑ Wikisource One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Commentry". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 766.