Commentry (French pronunciation: [kɔmɑ̃tʁi]; Auvergnat: Comentriac) 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.

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (December 2008) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Commentry]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|fr|Commentry}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Quick Facts Country, Region ...

Commentry
Commune
Town hall
Coat of arms
Location of Commentry
Commentry Show map of France Commentry Show map of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Coordinates: 46°17′23″N 2°44′32″E
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Allier
Arrondissement	Montluçon
Canton	Commentry
Intercommunality	Commentry Montmarault Néris Communauté
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Sylvain Bourdier[1]
Area 1	20.96 km2 (8.09 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]	6,059
• Density	290/km2 (750/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	03082 /03600
Elevation	332–462 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.

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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).^[5] Commentry was the first commune ever to elect a socialist mayor: Christophe Thivrier was elected 6 June 1882.^[6] The Socialist Party of France was founded in Commentry in September 1902.

Commentry gave its name to a coal field over 21 square kilometres in extent, and historically had important foundries and forges.^[7]

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

• Jean Bayet (1882–1969) Professor of Latin Language and Literature at the Sorbonne, whose grandfather Gilbert Bayet was mayor of Commentry 1871–1873.
• Henri Fayol (1841–1925) mining engineer, developed Fayolism, an approach to management and administration.
• Abel Gance (1889–1981) film director and producer, raised by maternal grandparents in Commentry until the age of eight.
• Jacques Hillairet (1886-1984) historian specializing in the history of Paris, officer of the Legion of Honour.
• Émile Mâle (1862–1954) art historian and member of the Académie française.
• Stéphane Mony (1800–1884) Engineer, director of the colliery at Commentry; mayor from 1854 to 1883; deputy from 1868 to 1871.
• Christophe Thivrier (1841–1895) first elected Socialist mayor in France.
• Roger Vergé (1930–2015) Celebrated chef and restaurateur.

• Communes of the Allier department