Marie Chiffon (née Marie Augustine Gaboriaud; 1835–1882) was a militant republican who served as an ambulance nurse in the
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...
in 1871. She was known as "la Capitaine" ("the captain"). For her actions during the Commune, she was deported to
New Caledonia
New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
. She died there in 1882.
Biography
Born into a family of peasants on 24 August 1835 in Ardelay (
Vendée
Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442. Marie Augustine Gaboriaud left to work as a washerwoman in Paris in the 1860s. On 15 January 1867, she married Jules Chiffon, a merchant from a family of stonemasons from the
Dijon
Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...
region.
During the Paris Commune, she joined the ''
Union des femmes pour la défense de Paris et les soins aux blessés
''Union des femmes pour la défense de Paris et les soins aux blessés'' () was a women's group during the 1871 Paris Commune. The union organized working women, ensured a market and fair pay for their work, and participated in the defence of P ...
'' ("Women's Union for the Defence of Paris and Care of the Wounded") as an ambulance nurse.
Her husband had been elected captain of the 121st battalion of the National Guard on 28 March 1871, the day before the proclamation of the Commune Council. During the ''
semaine sanglante
The ''Semaine sanglante'' ("") was a weeklong battle in Paris from 21 to 28 May 1871, during which the French Army recaptured the city from the Paris Commune. This was the final battle of the Paris Commune.
Following the Treaty of Frankfurt ...
'' ("bloody week"), when Versailles troops entered Paris, Chiffon and her husband defended the Pont d’Austerlitz and . She allowed the National Guard to enter a house to defend , where she and her husband lived.
For her actions during the Commune, she was imprisoned at Versailles, then transferred to the prison at . Brought before the 4th Court Martial, she said, "I dare you to condemn me to death. You are too cowardly to kill me.""" The court condemned her to twenty years of
forced labour
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...
on 11 May 1872. After the rejection of her appeal on 5 July 1872, she was deported on the ''Orne'' and arrived in
Nouméa
Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French Sui generis collectivity, special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest Francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main i ...
, New Caledonia, on 16 July 1874. Her sentence was remitted on 15 January 1879, but she stayed in New Caledonia. She died on 14 January 1882 at Magenta, Nouméa, and is buried there.