Andrée Viollis (9 December 1870 – 9 August 1950) was a French journalist and writer. A prominent figure in news journalism and major reporting, she was an

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

activist who was part of the French group associated with the

World Committee Against War and Fascism The World Committee Against War and Fascism was an international organization sponsored by the Communist International, that was active in the struggle against Fascism in the 1930s. During this period Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, Italy ...

. Viollis worked for various newspapers, including '' La Fronde'', ''

L'Écho de Paris ''L'Écho de Paris'' () was a daily newspaper in Paris from 1884 to 1944. The paper's editorial stance was initially conservative and nationalistic, but it later became close to the French Social Party. Its writers included Octave Mirbeau, Hen ...

'', ''Excelsior'', ''

Le Petit Parisien ''Le Petit Parisien'' () was a prominent France, French newspaper during the Third French Republic, Third Republic. It was published between 1876 and 1944, and its circulation was over two million after the First World War. Publishing Despite its ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'', ''Vendredi'', ''Ce soir'', and ''L'Humanité''. She received several awards, including the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Early life and education

Andrée Françoise Claudius Jacquet de la Verryere was born in

Mées Mées (; ) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in south-western France. Notable people * Andrée Viollis (1870–1950), journalist and writer See also *Communes of the Landes department The following is a list of ...

on 9 December 1870 to a cultivated bourgeois family. After obtaining her baccalaureate, she studied at the Sorbonne and graduated from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Career

After graduation, she turned to journalism and made her debut in the feminist newspaper La Fronde, directed by

Marguerite Durand Marguerite Durand (24 January 1864 – 16 March 1936) was a French stage actress, journalist, and a leading suffragette. She founded her own newspaper, and ran for election. She is also known for having a pet lion. The Bibliothèque Margueri ...

. She married Gustave Téry, professor of philosophy, with whom she had two children, including Simone Téry. In 1903, when Simone was four, Andree divorced Gustave. In 1905, she married Henri d'Ardenne de Tizac, curator of the

Musée Cernuschi The Musée Cernuschi (; 'Cernuschi Museum'), officially also the ('Asian Arts Museum of the City of Paris'), is an Asian art museum located at 7 avenue Vélasquez, near Parc Monceau, in Paris, France. Its Asian art collection is second in Par ...

and author of novels under the pseudonym of Jean Viollis. They had two other children. With her second husband, she became involved in literary journalism as a critic, columnist, serialist, and storyteller; they also co-authored novels. Viollis affiliated with ''L'Écho de Paris'' and ''Excelsior'', writing in favor of women's emancipation and the rights of the mother. From 1914, she worked at the newspaper ''Le Petit Parisien'', staying twenty years, where she turned to major reporting and covered diverse areas, including sporting events, major trials, political interviews, and war correspondence. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, for the period of 1914 to 1916, she served as a nurse at the front, as well as at

Bar-le-Duc Bar-le-Duc (), formerly known as Bar, is a commune in the Meuse département, of which it is the capital. The department is in Grand Est in northeastern France. The lower, more modern and busier part of the town extends along a narrow valley, ...

and

Sainte-Menehould Sainte-Menehould (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Marne (department), Marne Departments of France, department in north-eastern France. The 18th-century French playwright Charles-Georges Fenouillot de Falbaire de Quingey (1727–1800) ...

. In 1919 and until 1922, she served as editorial assistant to ''The Times'' and the ''Daily Mail''. She investigated the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

of 1927 ten years after the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. It was led by Vladimir L ...

, testified to the Afghan civil war in 1929, to the Indian revolt in 1930, accompanied the Minister for the Colonies,

Paul Reynaud Paul Reynaud (; 15 October 1878 – 21 September 1966) was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his economic liberalism and vocal opposition to Nazi Germany. Reynaud opposed the Munich Agreement of Septembe ...

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

in 1931, and followed in 1932 the Shanghai incident. During the Popular Front, she joined forces with anti-fascist intellectuals. With the support of

André Chamson André Chamson (6 June 1900 – 9 November 1983) was a French archivist, novelist and essayist. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was the father of the novelist Frédérique Hébrard. Biography Chamson was born at Nîme ...

and

Jean Guéhenno Jean Guéhenno born Marcel-Jules-Marie Guéhenno (25 March 1890 – 22 September 1978) was a French essayist, writer and literary critic. Life and career Jean Guéhenno, writer and educator, was a prominent contributor to the NRF. He was edit ...

, she became the director of the weekly political-literary ''Vendredi'', where she defended the cause of the Spanish Republic and of the victims of French colonization. Viollis was part of the French group associated with the

. In 1936, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, she chaired the first congress of the Union des jeunes filles de France. In 1938, she joined the editorial staff of the communist daily ''

Ce soir ''Ce soir'' (English: "Tonight"), was a French daily newspaper founded by the French Communist Party and directed by Louis Aragon and Jean-Richard Bloch. History The newspaper was established on the initiative of the Communist Party general s ...

'', directed by

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (; 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the Surrealism, surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littératur ...

and

Jean-Richard Bloch Jean-Richard Bloch (25 May 1884 in Paris – 15 March 1947) was a French critic, novelist and playwright. He was a member of the French Communist Party (PCF) and worked with Louis Aragon in the evening daily ''Ce soir''. Early life Jean Bloc ...

. After ''Vendredi'' ended publication in November 1938, she joined ''La Lumière'', along with Louis Martin-Chauffier and André Wurmser. Close to communist intellectual circles, she joined the Resistance in the southern zone 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 ...

, and put her journalist experience to work for this commitment, spending the war years in

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 ...

and Dieulefit.

Later life and death

In 1945, Andrée Viollis worked again with ''Ce soir''. She also collaborated with some publications of the communist movement. She took up major reports, which leads her to travel to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. In the same year, she was sent by ''L'Humanité'' to the United States to cover the French section of the Office of War Information. Viollis died in

on 9 August 1950. She was interred in the

Montparnasse Cemetery Montparnasse Cemetery () is a cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, in the city's 14th arrondissement of Paris, 14th arrondissement. The cemetery is roughly 47 acres and is the second largest cemetery in Paris. The cemetery has over 35,00 ...

. Her grave does not include a date of birth.

Selected works

* ''Criquet'', Calmann-Lévy, 1913 * ''Lord Northcliffe'', B. Grasset, 1919 * ''La perdrix dorée'', Baudinière coll. "Les Maîtres de la plume", 1925 * ''La Vraie Mme de La Fayette'', Bloud et Gay, 1926 * ''Seule en Russie, de la Baltique à la Caspienne'', Gallimard, 1927 * ''Alsace et Lorraine au-dessus des passions'', V. Attinger coll. "Occident", 1928 * ''L'Inde contre les Anglais'', Éd. des portiques, 1930 * ''Tourmente sur l'Afghanistan'', Librairie Valois, coll. "Explorations du monde nouveau", 1930 * ''Changhaï et le destin de la Chine'', R.-A. Corrêa, coll. "Faits et gestes", 1933 (Introduction de Henri Rohrer) * ''Le Japon et son empire'', B. Grasset, coll. "Les Ecrits", 1933 * ''Le Japon intime'', F. Aubier, coll. "des Documents", 1934 * ''Le Conflit sino-japonais'', M. Maupoint, 1938 * ''Notre Tunisie'', Gallimard, 1939 * ''Le Racisme hitlérien, machine de guerre contre la France'', 1943 * ''Le Secret de la reine Christine'', Éditions Agence Gutenberg, coll. "Les Vies illustres romancées", 1944 * ''Puycerrampion'' (avec Jean Viollis), la Bibliothèque française, 1947 * ''L'Afrique du Sud, cette inconnue'', Hachette, coll. "Choses vues, aventures vécues", 1948

References

Bibliography

* Anne Renoult,
Presses Universitaires de Rennes - ''Andrée Viollis: une femme journaliste''
coll. "Mnémosyne", 2004 . (in French) * Alice-Anne Jeandel, ''Andrée Viollis: Une femme grand reporter, une écriture de l'événement 1927-1939'', Inter-National, 2006
l'Harmattan
(in French)

(in French)

External links

*
Andrée VIOLLIS, Indochine S.O.S., Paris, NRF, 1935, 240 p.
by www.entreprises-coloniales.fr, published 17 December 2017, updated 6 April 2019. (in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Viollis, Andree 1870 births 1950 deaths 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French women writers People from Landes (department) University of Paris alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford French Resistance members Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery French feminists French translators Recipients of the Legion of Honour Female nurses in World War I World War I nurses 19th-century feminists