Gisèle Halimi

Gisèle Halimi, born "Zeiza Gisèle Élise Taïeb" in 1927, is a French-Tunisian lawyer, feminist activist, and essayist.

Career

Born in La Goulette, to a Jewish mother and a Muslim father, she was educated at a French "lycée" in Tunis, and then attended the University of Paris, graduating in law and philosophy. Her childhood and the ways in which she blends a Jewish-Muslim identity are discussed in her memoir, "Le lait de l'oranger". In 1948 she qualified as a lawyer and has practised at the Paris bar since 1956. She acted as a counsel for the Algerian National Liberation Front, most notably for the tortured activist Djamila Boupacha in 1960, and wrote a book in 1961 (with an introduction by Simone de Beauvoir) to plead her case. She has also defended Basque terrorists, and has been counsel in many cases related to women's issues, such as the Bobigny abortion trial of 1972 which attracted national publicity.

In 1971 she founded the feminist group "Choisir" ("To Chose"), to protect the women who had signed the Manifesto of the 343 admitting to having illegal abortions. In 1972 "Choisir" formed itself into a clearly reformist body, and the campaign greatly influenced the passing of the law allowing contraception and abortion carried through by Simone Veil in 1974.

In 1981 she was elected to the French National Assembly, as an independent Socialist, and was Deputy for Isère until 1984. Since 1985 she has been French legate to UNESCO. She has been twice married, to Paul Halimi and to Charles Faux, and has three sons.

Works

Halimi is the author of "La Cause des femmes" ("The Women's Cause", 1973) and instigator and contributor to the collective work "Le Programme commun des femmes" ("The Women's Common Cause", 1978). This outlined women's chief needs: legal, medical, educational and professional, and suggested solutions which should be decided by women voters.