French Millionaire Leaves Fortune to Village He Never Visited

thiberville, normandy, france - Residents of Thiberville, a small French village, receive a special Christmas gift as a millionaire leaves ten million euros to the community despite never having been there.

The 1773 inhabitants of Thiberville received a unique Christmas gift. A millionaire left ten million euros to the village after his death, even though he had never been there.

Roger Thiberville, a former meteorologist from a family of winemakers, had no heirs when he passed away at the age of 91 on August 23 of this year. He decided to donate his fortune in an original way. A small portion of his estate went to his accountant, while the rest went to a small municipality in the Normandy region. A municipality he had never visited, but which bore his name: Thiberville.

The municipal council received a donation of over 10 million euros at the end of this year, which is five times the total annual budget of Thiberville's 1773 residents. "We received a call from a notary this past August," said Mayor Guy Paris. "He informed us that a man with no descendants had decided to leave a part of his belongings to us. At the end of November, we were informed of the amount. 10 million euros. Luckily, I was sitting down at the time."

The generous donor asked for only one thing in return: the placement of a memorial stone in his memory at the Thiberville cemetery. "He doesn't ask anything else from us, so this is what we owe him," added Paris.

Thanks to the donation, Thiberville can repay debts of over 400,000 euros and also launch new projects, such as the construction of a new football field, a new fire station, and the renovation of the public garden.