Éveline Geneviève Anna Garnier (6 May 1904 - 22 October 1989) was a significant figure in the

Noyautage des administrations publiques Noyautage des administrations publiques, also known by the abbreviation NAP, was an arm of the French Resistance, started by André Plaisantin of the Combat (French Resistance), Combat movement, with the aim of infiltrating the Vichy Government. It ...

, which aimed at infiltrating the French collaborationalist

Vichy Government Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. She used her job as a

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

as cover for her work in the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

alongside her partner

Andrée Jacob Andrée Jacob (22 July 1906 - 6 February 2002) was a member of the French Resistance during the Second World War. Initially working in publishing, she played an active part in the French Resistance during the Second World War. Post war she became ...

Henri Frenay Henri Frenay Sandoval (1905–1988) was a French military officer and French Resistance member. He was born in Lyon, France, on 11 November 1905, into a Catholic family with a military tradition. He studied the Germanic languages at the Universit ...

and

Claude Bourdet Claude Bourdet (28 October 1909 – 20 March 1996) was a writer, journalist, polemist, and militant French politician. Peronal life Bourdet was a son of the dramatic author Édouard Bourdet and the poet Catherine Pozzi, was born and died in Pari ...

Early life and family

Éveline Geneviève Anna Garnier was born on 6 May 1904 in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. Archives de Paris, État civil de Paris en ligne : Paris 16^e, acte de naissance, . Her mother was Jeanne Julie Gabrielle (née Maritain) (1875-1955) and her father was Charles Marie Georges Garnier (1869-1956), professor of English literature and language at the

Lycée Janson-de-Sailly Lycée Janson de Sailly is a ''lycée'' located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. The ''lycéens'' of Janson are called ''les jansoniens'' and they usually refer to their high school as Janson, or JdS. It is the biggest academic inst ...

, Inspector General of Public Education and a writer. Her maternal grandmother, Geneviève Maritain (née Favre) (1855-1943), was a feminist and pacifist, the daughter of philosopher and educator

Julie Favre Julie Velten Favre (November 15, 1833 – ), sometimes called Madame Jules Favre, was a French philosopher and educator. She is known for her work educating young women and for advancing a moral philosophy that advocated living a virtuous life, r ...

and statesman and lawyer

Jules Favre Jules Claude Gabriel Favre (21 March 1809 – 20 January 1880) was a French statesman and lawyer. After the establishment of the Third Republic in September 1870, he became one of the leaders of the Opportunist Republicans in the National Assem ...

. Her maternal uncle was the philosopher Jacques Maritain, who converted from Protestantism to Catholicism in 1906 and later designated her as his principal legatee. Her parents, both Protestants, divorced shortly before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Éveline Garnier was the partner of another member of the French Resistance,

, whom she met in the Christian circles around her uncle Jacques Maritain..

Resistance work in the Second World War

Garnier was active in the

during the

. Her codename was Anne. She worked in close collaboration with

within the Combat movement, working across intelligence, recruitment, organisation, and direct action. She also worked with Father Foussard, within the Comet Line, which rescued and repatriated Allied airmen that were shot down on French soil. Garnier became deputy secretary general of the

(NAP) network in September 1943, working with her partner

, (code name Danielle). From March 1944 Garnier was head of the NAP network. She also helped to save Jews by making false papers for them. After the

Liberation of France The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany inv ...

, she and Andrée Jacob joined the ministère des Anciens combattants de la Résistance et des Déportés (Ministry of Veterans of the Resistance and Deportees).

Personal life

Garnier and Andrée Jacob were in a relationship for over fifty years. Éveline Garnier died on 22 October 1989 as a result of a cardiovascular disease at the Sainte-Périne hospital in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.

Commendations

* Médaille de la Résistance française (1945) * Croix de guerre 1939-1945 avec palme (1946) * Chevalière de la Légion d'honneur (1946)

Commemoration

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris, the Allee Éveline-Garnier and the Allee Andrée-Jacob were inaugurated in the

2nd arrondissement of Paris The 2nd arrondissement of Paris (''IIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''deuxième'' (second/the second). It is governed locally ...

on 29 August 2019.

Publications

* Éveline Garnier,
Contraste de New York ou ce que M. Herriot n'aura pas vu
�, ''Esprit: revue internationale'', Paris, 1933 * Éveline Garnier, «Souvenirs sur mon oncle», ''Cahiers Jacques Maritain'', Paris, vol. 2

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garnier, Eveline 1904 births 1989 deaths Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) French librarians Recipients of the Resistance Medal French lesbians Knights of the Legion of Honour Deaths from cardiovascular disease 20th-century French LGBT people