Marthe Simard, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Marthe Simard

French politician

Date of Birth: 06-Apr-1901

Place of Birth: Bordj Menaïel, Boumerdès Province, Algeria

Date of Death: 28-Mar-1993

Profession: politician

Nationality: France

Zodiac Sign: Aries


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About Marthe Simard

  • Marthe Simard (1901-1993), born Marthe Caillaud in Bordj Menaïel, Algeria to French parents, was a French-Canadian activist and politician.
  • She lived in Quebec after 1932, having gone there to follow her husband Dr.
  • André Simard, grandson of former Quebec premier Félix-Gabriel Marchand.
  • She was previously married at the age of nineteen, after which she had a baby girl and was then soon widowed.After 1939 she organized material aid in medicines and food for the families of French soldiers.
  • She also founded and became the chair of a committee of Free France founded to help French exiles and fight Vichy propaganda; it was the first committee of resistance outside France.
  • She was inspired to found it by a speech made by Charles de Gaulle in 1940.In 1944 Charles de Gaulle appointed a consultative assembly, which Marthe joined.
  • On November 4 and 5, 1943, most major Quebec newspapers reported on the announcement of her appointment to the assembly.
  • The presidents of the main French associations in Montréal published a letter in protest in 1943, protesting the fact that they were not consulted; however, as her committee of Free France pointed out, "they did not have to be by the orders of the Committee of the Liberation".She supported French women being given the right to vote, which occurred in 1944, claiming, "It is abnormal that the French woman, who has been for a long time intellectually (see the competitions of the universities!) And morally the equal of the man, remained the only one not to take part in political deliberations."Though Charles de Gaulle asked her to remain in France and continue in politics, she went back to Quebec with her family.She was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honour, and was given the Resistance Medal and the Commemorative medal for voluntary service in Free France.She is buried in Notre-Dame-de-Belmont Cemetery with her husband André.In 2008 a plaque was unveiled at 59 D'Auteuil street in Old Quebec, where she lived and founded her Free France committee, honoring her.

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