Poster of Charlie Hebdo victims
Poster of Charlie Hebdo victimsReuters

A misspelling put a damper on an official memorial ceremony for the victims of the terror attack at the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris last year. 

French President Francois Hollande was in the process of unveiling a plaque commemorating the 11 victims of the shooting by Islamists on Tuesday when the error was discovered. 

Journalists attending the ceremony at the magazine's offices were the first to notice that 80-year-old Jewish cartoonist Georges Wolinski's name had been mistakenly spelled as Wolinsky. 

A black cloth was quickly placed over the marble plaque and a replacement plaque ordered for completion within 48 hours. Wolinski's widow, Maryse, was also informed. 

A spokesperson for the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, said the engraving company had received the correct spelling and was completely to blame for the error.

While some saw the spelling mistake as amusing, with one magazine proclaiming it as the "final joke of Wolinsky (sic)," others thought it showed a lack of respect.

Several plaques were installed across Paris to commemorate the victims of a three-day terror spree in January 2015 - at the Charlie Hebdo offices, the spot were police officer Ahmed Merabet was shot, and the Hyper Cacher supermarket where four Jewish hostages were murdered.