- Lucie Aubrac
Lucie Samuel née Bernard (
June 29 1912 –March 14 2007 ), better known as Lucie Aubrac, was a French history teacher and member of theFrench Resistance .In 1939 Lucie Bernard, the daughter of a wine grower, married Raymond Samuel (born 1914) whom she met in
Strasbourg . Raymond Samuel would be known during and after the war as Raymond Aubrac, having changed his Jewish surname due to the open anti-Semitism and persecution of Jews at the time.After the fall of France, Lucie joined the
Libération-sud resistance group in Lyon after its formation by her husband. Later, she followed him to the group ofCharles Delestraint . In 1941 they joined forces withEmmanuel d'Astier to run the underground newspaper, "Libération".On
June 21 1943 , theGestapo captured Raymond alongside high-ranking Resistance memberJean Moulin and he was taken to Montluc prison. Lucie and her comrades released Raymond and thirteen other resistance members onOctober 21 1943 . Because their cover had been blown, in February 1944 Lucie, Raymond and their first child escaped to London. The Aubrac name was the last alias they had used in France before their flight to theUnited Kingdom and the one they kept afterwards.After the war, Lucie Aubrac served on the consultative committees of the
French Republic Provisional Government (GPRF). Her degree to teach history was also restored and she eventually returned to teaching. She also campaigned forhuman rights .In 1984 Lucie Aubrac published her memoirs under the title "Ils partiront dans l'ivresse" (best translated as "They will leave with elation"). The French title refers to the code phrase the Aubracs listened for on the radio to know it was safe for them to leave for London. The book was translated into English as "Outwitting the Gestapo"). The movie "Lucie Aubrac" is loosely based on the events surrounding her husband's escape.
Lucie Aubrac died in
Issy-les-Moulineaux , near Paris, onMarch 14 2007 .References
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,2035387,00.html Guardian obituary, 16 March 2007]
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