Most Serene Federal Republic of Montmartre
micronation in Manhattan
The Most Serene Federal Republic of Montmartre (or the Serene Republic of Montmartre and Her Dependencies, or in brief the Republic of Montmartre) is either a micronation or an extended political satire. It is mostly within the boundaries of the New York City borough of Manhattan.
Barry Alan Richmond (born c. 1933), a stage actor/director, theatrical designer, author of articles on the Grand Guignol, proclaimed the Most Serene Federal Republic of Montmartre's existence and borders c. 1965 (mostly within Manhattan's Theatre District, "roughly 39th to 59th Street with a strip up the Hudson River to where the boat basin is, and from the middle of Fifth Avenue over to what international laws call the thalweg, which is the navigable channel in the middle of the Hudson River")... but set its origin at 1636. To some extent this may have been a piece of performance art in itself; but it exchanged mutual recognition with other such small organizations (micronations and governments-in-exile), and was acknowledged by the International Micropatrological Society. Richmond is named as its 47th president, among other titles.
Phone book listing
On June 24, 1977, a New York Public Service Commission hearing was held in the World Trade Center's South Tower to resolve a dispute between Richmond and New York Telephone (NYTel), concerning the "Montmartre Govt Of" listing in the blue-pages (government) section of the phone book, as depicted to the right. NYTel wanted to remove that listing; Richmond wanted it kept. On June 29, Richmond sought an injunction in federal court to stop the removal; he didn't get one. On June 30, the PSC's hearing examiner ruled in favor of NYTel, but on July 7 the PSC said that statement was "vacated".
“Most Serene Federal Republic of Montmartre” enters the record as micronation in Manhattan. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Most, Serene and Federal can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Most Serene Federal Republic of Montmartre” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Most, Serene and Federal provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q117422273. Authority coordinates are 40.761, -73.973. None of the 3 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1933, 1965, 1636 and 1977.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Most Serene Federal Republic of Montmartre”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Most Serene Federal Republic of Montmartre primary sources, Most Serene Federal Republic of Montmartre archive and Most research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Most Serene Federal Republic of Montmartre”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Most Serene Federal Republic of Montmartre” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.