Marie Reynoard (28 October 1897 – 30 January 1945) was a French resistance fighter. She was a heroine of the Grenoble Resistance during

World War II 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 ...

. She died in

Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a Nazi concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel). The camp memorial's estimated figure of 1 ...

Biography

Marie Reynoard was born in

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

(

Haute-Corse Haute-Corse (; , or ; ) is a department of France, consisting of the northern part of the island of Corsica. The corresponding departmental territorial collectivity merged with that of Corse-du-Sud on 1 January 2018, forming the single ter ...

) on 28 October 1897. A brilliant student, she joined the prestigious

École normale supérieure de jeunes filles The ''École normale supérieure de jeunes filles'' (also, ''École normale supérieure de Sèvres'') was a French institute of higher education, in Sèvres, now a commune in the suburbs of Paris. The school educated girls only, especially as te ...

(Sèvres); in 1921, she taught in

Cahors Cahors (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Region. The capital and main city of t ...

and then in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, before being appointed in 1936 to the Lycée Stendhal in

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

. Despite fragile health that forced her to take rest cures in the mountains, she joined the Resistance in 1940 by founding the resistance movement Vérité. During a trip to Marseille, she met

Henri Frenay Henri Frenay Sandoval (11 November 1905 – 8 August 1988) was a French military officer and French Resistance member, who served as minister of prisoners, refugees and deportees in Charles de Gaulle's Provisional Government of the French Republic ...

, leader of the National Liberation Movement. She brought together the first resistance fighters in Grenoble in her small apartment at 4 rue Joseph-Fourier. At the end of November 1941, in the presence of Henri Frenay and François de Menthon, the Vérité et Liberté movements merged under the name of French Liberation then

Combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

, which also became the name of the clandestine newspaper of the network. She then took over the departmental leadership of the Combat movement. Marie Reynoard began by distributing leaflets from

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Arrest

Reynoard was arrested in May 1943 in Lyon by Jean Multon, a collaborator of

Klaus Barbie Nikolaus Barbie (25 October 1913 – 25 September 1991) was a German officer of the ''Schutzstaffel'' and ''Sicherheitsdienst'' who worked in Vichy France during World War II. He became known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortu ...

at the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

Tributes

In Grenoble, a commemorative plaque at the Lycée Stendhal, where she taught, has been installed, as well as at her home. A

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

and an avenue in Grenoble bear her name since 1968, a residence for students since September 2013. Also bear her name in the Grenoble region, a high school in Villard-Bonnot and the hall of the eco-district of Gières since 2016.Lycée Marie Reynoard
/ref> A school in Bastia, her birthplace, bears her name.

Decorations

Resistance Medal The Resistance Medal (, ) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 February 1943 "to recognize the ...

, 24 April 1946

Bibliography

* Fernand Garnier, Marie Reynoard, Press

university of Grenoble The (, ''Grenoble Alps University'', abbr. UGA) is a Grands établissements, ''grand établissement'' in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchers. Es ...

, 1995

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynoard, Marie 1897 births 1945 deaths People from Bastia Ravensbrück concentration camp prisoners History of Grenoble People who died in Ravensbrück concentration camp