Béatrix Excoffon, born Julia Euvrie or Œuvrie (10 July 1849 - 30 December 1916) was a militant

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 ...

who served as an ambulance nurse during 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 ...

in 1871. She was vice-president of the Club des Femmes de la Boule Noire, and was known as "the republican".

Life

Excoffon was born in

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

on 10 July 1849. In 1870, she was living in Paris with her partner, François, a printer. They had two children. In ''La Commune'',

Louise Michel Louise Michel (; 29 May 1830 – 9 January 1905) was a teacher and important figure in the Paris Commune. Following her penal transportation to New Caledonia she embraced anarchism. When returning to France she emerged as an important French a ...

relates that Sophie Poirier, Blin, and Excoffon asked her to join them in creating the

Comité de vigilance de Montmartre The Vigilance Committee of Montmartre (''Comité de Vigilance de Montmartre'') was a political association and provisional administrative organization established on the Rue de Clignancourt shortly before the Siege of Paris (1870–1871). Closely ...

. That committee then organized the Club des Femmes de la Boule Noire, and Excoffon became its vice-president. Sophie Poirier became its president. She requisitioned an apartment at 32 rue des Acacias in Paris, where she lived, for the use of the Vigilance Committee. At a meeting of the club of the Salle Ragache at the beginning of April, she said, "there are enough of us to attend to the wounded." On 3 April 1871, Excoffon took part in a women's march to Versailles, where the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

was located, reminiscent of the march of October 1789. Excoffon set up a mobile ambulance at

Fort d'Issy Fort d'Issy was one of the fortifications of the city of Paris, France, built between 1841 and 1845. It was one of six forts built to the south of the main wall around the city. The fort was placed too close to the city to be effective, and had a p ...

for the Enfants-Perdus for a fortnight. Excoffon's ambulance was joined by Alix Payen, who first became an ambulance nurse on the day her husband was wounded in the eye.. Commune_de_Paris_barricade_Place_Blanche

Commune_de_Paris_barricade_Place_Blanche

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 ...

, when the Versailles troops entered Paris, Excoffon defended

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 ...

at the barricades 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 ...

Blanche Lefebvre Blanche Lefebvre (or Lefevre) (1847 - 23 May 1871) was a communard active in the Batignolles quarter in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. She died defending the Paris Commune during "bloody week". Biography Blanche Lefebvre was a laundress at t ...

, and

Malvina Poulain Malvina is a feminine given name derived from the Scottish Gaelic ''Mala-mhìn'', meaning "smooth brow". It was popularized by the 18th century Scottish poet James Macpherson. Other names popularised by Macpherson became popular in Scandinavia o ...

, also an ambulance nurse. 120 women delayed General Clinchant's troops before retreating, exhausted and low on ammunition, to

place Pigalle The Place Pigalle is a public square located in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, between the Boulevard de Clichy and the Boulevard de Rochechouart, near Sacré-Cœur, at the foot of the Montmartre hill. Location and access The square is located ...

.. After the end of the Commune, she was detained at

Satory Satory is an area south of Versailles in France. It is mostly known for its military camp, housing: * Weapon-testing facilities of Nexter Systems * Barracks and facilities for Gendarmerie including the GIGN headquarters and the Mobile Gendarm ...

, along with Louise Michel. The 4th Court Martial condemned her to deportation to a fortress on 13 October 1871. She was then imprisoned in

Auberive Auberive () is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in the Grand Est region in northeastern France. Geography The Aujon flows west through the northeastern part of the commune. The Aube forms part of the commune's southern border, then flows ...

. Louise Michel asked

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

to intervene on her behalf, since her parents and brother-in-law had died recently. Her sentence was reduced to ten years of imprisonment on 28 March 1872, and reduced further by one year on 15 August 1876. Finally, Excoffon made an act of submission and her sentence was commuted, resulting in her release on 26 November 1878. Excoffon and her partner married on 5 September 1874.

References

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Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Portal bar, Biography, France, History, Socialism Communards 1916 deaths 1849 births New Caledonian people People deported from France People from Cherbourg-Octeville French nurses French military personnel People from Paris French socialists