Blanche Lefebvre (or Lefevre) (1847 - 23 May 1871) was a

communard The Communards () were members and supporters of the short-lived 1871 Paris Commune formed in the wake of the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. After the suppression of the Commune by the French Army in May 1871, 43,000 Communards ...

active in the

Batignolles Batignolles () is a neighbourhood of Paris, part of its 17th arrondissement. The neighbourhood is bounded on the south by the Boulevard des Batignolles, on the east by the Avenue de Clichy, on the north by Rue Cardinet and on the west by the Ru ...

quarter in the

12th arrondissement of Paris The 12th arrondissement of Paris (''XIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le douzième'' ("the twelfth"). Situated on the right bank of the River Seine, it is ...

. She died defending the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

during "

bloody week The ''semaine sanglante'' ("") was a weeklong battle in Paris from 21 to 28 May 1871, during which the French Army recaptured the city from the Paris Commune. This was the final battle of the Paris Commune. Following the Treaty of Frankfurt ...

Biography

Blanche Lefebvre was a laundress at the Sainte-Marie des Batignolles laundry. She lived at 34, rue des Maris, in the 10th arrondissement. During the Paris Commune, she was a member of the , which was founded on 3 May 1871 in the church of ; her husband was the secretary. She was also a member of the executive committee of the ("Women's Union for the Defence of Paris and the Care of the Wounded"). She was known to always wear a red sash and carry a revolver. Abbot Paul Fontoulieu, a strongly anti-communard but otherwise generally reliable contemporary, described Lefebvre as the "queen" of the podium at the Batignolles - and as a "terrible woman", a "fanatic" who "loved the insurrection as others love a man," capable of making any sacrifice for the Commune. He compared her to

Théroigne de Méricourt Anne-Josèphe Théroigne de Méricourt (born ''Anne-Josèphe Terwagne''; 13 August 1762 – 8 June 1817) was a Belgian singer, orator and organizer in the French Revolution. She was born at Marcourt, in Prince-Bishopric of Liège (from which com ...

and

Charlotte Corday Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont (27 July 1768 – 17 July 1793), known as Charlotte Corday (), was a figure of the French Revolution. In 1793, she was executed by guillotine for the assassination of Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat, who w ...

(not, in his opinion, a flattering comparison), and related a story in which she shot dead a

Fédéré The term ''"fédérés"'' (sometimes translated to English as "federates") most commonly refers to the troops who volunteered for the French National Guard in the summer of 1792 during the French Revolution. The ''fédérés'' of 1792 effected ...

captain on 22 May for his cowardice in the face of the Commune's looming defeat. Lefebvre was one of the women who participated in the defence of

Place Blanche Place Blanche in Paris, France is one of the small plazas along the Boulevard de Clichy, which runs between the 9th and 18th arrondissements (Parisian districts) and leads into Montmartre. It is near Pigalle. On 23 May 1871, during the Bloody We ...

on 23 May 1871, along with

Élisabeth Dmitrieff Elisabeth Dmitrieff (born Elizaveta Lukinichna Kusheleva, , also known as Elizaveta Tomanovskaya; 1 November 1850 – probably between 1916 and 1918) was a Russian revolutionary and feminist activist. The illegitimate daughter of a Russian ari ...

Nathalie Lemel Nathalie Lemel (26 August 1827 – 1921), was a militant anarchist and feminist who participated on the barricades at the Commune de Paris of 1871. She was deported to Nouvelle Calédonie with Louise Michel. Bookbinder Nathalie Lemel was born ...

, , and Julia Béatrix Euvrie. She was killed fighting Versailles troops later that day, on the in the

17th arrondissement The 17th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le dix-septième'' (; "the seventeenth"). The arrondissement, known as Batignoll ...

, on the Batignolles barricade.

Legacy

A square was created in 2012 with the provisional designation "BY/17". In June 2013, Paris city hall named it "Place Blanche Lefebvre".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lefebvre, Blanche 19th-century French women politicians Deaths in Paris 1847 births Communards 1871 deaths Female revolutionaries

Biography

Legacy

Further reading

References