Gilberte Roca née Cau (18 February 1911, Cailhau — 26 July 2004,
Nîmes
Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...
) was a French Communist politician and member of the Resistance.
Biography
Originally from a poor family of agricultural workers, Gilberte Roca was an early adopter of politics. She joined the
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...
(PCF) and the ''Union des jeunes filles'' ''de France'' (UJFF) in 1934. She lived in Capestang then moved to Nîmes. It was then that she became a shorthand typist for the
Gard
Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;General Confederation of Labour and married Edmond Roca — a
communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
figure of the region.
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Gilberte joined the Resistance, while her husband, Edmond, was taken prisoner from 1940 to 1945.
At the end of the war, she became the departmental councilor for ''Canton de Nîmes-3''. Then, in 1946, she was elected for MP for Gard at the National Constituent Assembly. She was reelected until 1956, but defeated in the
1958 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 1958.
Africa
* 1958 French Togoland parliamentary election
* 1958 Nigerien Constituent Assembly election
* 1958 South African general election
* 1958 Southern Rhodesian general election
* 1958 Sudanese ...
. She was reelected in 1962, but only held that office for a year; a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections.
A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
was held, which Jean Poudevigne won. On top of that, she was a municipal councilor from 1959 to 1977.
After her retirement from politics, she died on 26 July 2004 in Nîmes.