Born as Lazzaro Ponticelli in Cordani, a frazione (civil parish) in Bettola, Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy,[4] he was raised in a mountain hamlet in Bettola, one of seven children born to Jean Ponticelli and Philomène Cordani.

[5] His mother cultivated the family's small plot of land and, like many women of the area, commuted three times a year to the Po Valley to work in its rice fields.

After the unexpected deaths of Jean Ponticelli and his eldest son, Pierre, the rest of the family moved to Paris, leaving Lazare in the care of neighbors.

[7] By 1906, aged eight years old, he had saved enough money to buy a railway ticket to Paris, which he considered "paradise.

"[4][5][7] To travel to the capital of France, he walked 21 miles (34 km) to the nearest train station at Piacenza.

[8] He could not speak French, but found work as a chimney sweep in Nogent-sur-Marne and later as a paper boy in Paris.

[12] In keeping a promise to Céleste to always assist others, he rescued a German and a French soldier who were wounded in the arm and leg, respectively.

[13] At his new post as a machine gunner, Ponticelli was seriously wounded by a shell during an assault on an Austrian mountain position.

[17] Until his death, Ponticelli lived with his daughter in the Paris suburb of Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, and every 11 November until 2007 he attended Armistice Day ceremonies.

[2] When originally offered a state funeral by then French President Jacques Chirac, Ponticelli asserted that he did not want one, although the death of the penultimate recognized soldier,[b] Louis de Cazenave, on 20 January 2008[19] caused him to reconsider.

[20] Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, released a statement and said there would be a day of national remembrance for the war dead of France.

The mass was held at Saint-Louis Cathedral in Les Invalides and was attended by government ministers, soldiers and members of Ponticelli's family.

[22] At the mass, French collégien Guillaume Kaleff read a poem written by his class in Ponticelli's honor.

[23] Flags were ordered to be flown at half mast while Sarkozy unveiled a plaque dedicated to the veterans of World War I.