Ginette Dior (2 August 1917 – 17 June 2008), better known as Catherine Dior, was a

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 ...

fighter during

World War II 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 opposin ...

. Involved with the Franco-Polish intelligence unit F2 from November 1941, she was arrested in Paris in July 1944 by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

, then tortured and deported to the Ravensbrück women concentration camp. Dior was subsequently forced to work in the

Torgau Torgau () is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen. Outside Germany, the town is best known as where on 25 April 1945, the United States and Soviet Armies forces first ...

military prison, in the

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...

's satellite camp of

Abberode Abberode is a village and a former municipality in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 6 March 2009, it is part of the town Mansfeld Mansfeld, sometimes also unofficially Mansfeld-Lutherstadt, is a town in the distric ...

, and finally in a factory near

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. After her release in April 1945, she was awarded several medals of honour for her acts in the Resistance, most notably the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

, the

King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom The King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom is a British medal for award to foreign nationals who aided the Allied effort during the Second World War. Eligibility Instituted on 23 August 1945, the medal was a reward to foreign nationals ...

, and the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

. After the end of the war, Dior spent the remainder of her life working with flowers: first as a flower trader in Paris, then as a flower farmer in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

for the production of

fragrance An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance or flavoring, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. For an individual chemical or class of chemical compounds to impart a smell or fragrance, it must be sufficiently vol ...

. She was close to her brother, the well-known

couturier ''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...

. Launched in 1947, the perfume ''

Miss Dior Miss Dior is a 1947 perfume released by Christian Dior. Fragrance Miss Dior dates to 1947, shortly after the Christian Dior fashion line debuted its acclaimed New Look collection. The fragrance’s name was a tribute to the designer’s sister, ...

'' is often said to have been named after her by Christian. Catherine Dior helped preserve her brother's legacy after his death in 1957, and she became the honorary president of the from 1999 until her death in 2008, aged 90.

Biography

Early life

Ginette Dior – who later took the name Catherine – was born in Granville,

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

on 2 August 1917, the youngest child of

Maurice Dior Alexandre Louis Maurice Dior (7 February 1872 – 9 December 1946) was a French industrialist, and the father of grand couturier Christian Dior and French Resistance member Catherine Dior. Early life Maurice Dior was born in Normandy and cam ...

(1872–1946), a

fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

industrialist, and

Madeleine Dior Marie Madeleine Juliette Martin (1879–1931) was the wife of the industrialist Maurice Dior. She was also the mother of the grand couturier Christian Dior and the French Resistance member Catherine Dior. Biography Madeleine Martin was the ...

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Martin (1879–1931). She had four siblings: Raymond (the father of

Françoise Dior Marie Françoise Suzanne Dior (7 April 1932 – 20 January 1993) was a French socialite and neo-Nazi underground financier. She was the niece of French fashion designer Christian Dior and Resistance fighter Catherine Dior, who publicly distance ...

), Jacqueline, Bernard, and the couturier

. Following the bankruptcy of the Dior factories in the aftermath of the 1929 financial crash and the death of her mother in 1931, the family settled in 1932 in Callian, near

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal oc, Grassa in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional it, Grassa) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence- ...

. Catherine assisted in the family's survival by growing green beans and peas.

World War II

In November 1941, Dior met founding Resistance member Hervé des Charbonneries while shopping in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

. She fell in love with him; aged 36, des Charbonneries was a married man and had 3 children. Dior joined him in the Resistance in late 1941, soon after her brother Christian returned to Paris. She used Christian's apartment in Paris, located at 10

Rue Royale Rue Royale (French for "Royal Street") may refer to several streets: *Rue Royale, Brussels, Belgium * Rue Royale, Lyon, France *Rue Royale, Paris, France See also *Royal Street, New Orleans Royal Street (french: Rue Royale; es, Calle Real) is a ...

, in order to host underground Resistance meetings. Dior was involved with the "Massif Central" section of the F2 network, a British-funded Resistance intelligence unit set up by the

Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...

to operate in France. Des Charbonneries belonged to the same network and operated in the Zone Sud under the leadership of Admiral

Jacques Trolley de Prévaux Jacques Marie Charles Trolley de Prévaux (2 April 1888 — 19 August 1944) was a French Navy officer and member of the Resistance. After a brilliant career in the Navy as a pioneer of the Aéronavale and having risen to the rank of captain, he fe ...

. Dior was in charge of transmitting clandestine reports to London. On 6 July 1944, Dior was arrested along with 26 other persons of the group, then tortured by the

. Christian tried to seek her release via the Nazi contacts he had made at his job and with the help of his friend, Swedish consul-general

Raoul Nordling Raoul Nordling (, ; 11 November 1882 – 1 October 1962) was a Swedish businessman and diplomat. He was born in Paris and spent most of his life there. Biography Nordling's father, Carl Gustav Nordling, arrived in Paris from Sweden at the end ...

. On 18 August, Nordling managed to convince the Nazis to place Catherine under the protection of the Swedish state, but she had already been deported by 15 August on one of the last prison trains leaving Paris towards the Ravensbrück women concentration camp. Trolley de Prévaux was arrested in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

during the same month. Dior was subsequently transferred from Ravensbrück to the military prison of

and posted to the all-female "Anton Kommando" to work on the production of explosives in a disused potassium mine. She then worked in

– one of

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...

's satellite camps – and in an aviation factory at

Markkleeberg Markkleeberg is an affluent suburb of Leipzig, located in the Leipzig district of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. The river Pleiße runs through the city, which borders Leipzig to the north and to the west. Markkleeberg is known to be the en ...

, which was eventually captured by the US Army on 19 April 1945. Dior was liberated near

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

during the same month and returned to Paris on 28 May 1945. When she arrived back in Paris, she was so emaciated that her brother Christian didn't recognize her and she was too sick to eat the dinner he'd prepared to celebrate her return. In 1952, she testified in a trial against 14 people responsible for the

office in Paris. Dior was awarded several medals of honour for her acts of resistance: the

– a distinction usually reserved for regular armed forces –, the Combatant Volunteer Cross of the Resistance, the

Combatant's Cross The Combatant's Cross (french: "Croix du combattant") is a French decoration that recognizes, as its name implies, those who fought in combat for France. The Poilus (French combat soldiers) of World War I worked toward recognition by the governm ...

, the

, and was named a Chevalière of the

Miss Dior

After the war, Dior became a "representative in cut flowers" (''mandataire en fleurs coupées''). During 12 years, she worked with des Charbonneries at the Halles market in Paris, trading flowers from the south of France and the

French colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over , the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuri ...

. She then moved to Callian,

, buying there a rose farm for the production of

, which she continued to exploit until her death. Christian Dior's testament will, dated 30 August 1957, bequeathed his possessions to be equally shared between his sister Catherine and Raymonde Zehnacker, his right-hand woman. He died from a heart attack on 23 October the same year, aged 52. The fragrance ''

'', presented on 12 February 1947 during the first fashion show of the company, might have been named after her. Although the relation is not confirmed by

Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds ...

's official website, the story is often mentioned by journalists. According to the legend, Catherine Dior suddenly entered the room while her brother Christian was brainstorming names for the fragrance with his muse Mitzah Bricard; "Ah, here's Miss Dior!", Bricard said, and Christian allegedly replied "Miss Dior: now there's a name for my perfume!"

Later life

In October 1963, she publicly distanced herself from her niece

after her wedding with British

Neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

leader

Colin Jordan John Colin Campbell Jordan (19 June 1923 – 9 April 2009) was a leading figure in post-war neo-Nazism in Great Britain. In the far-right circles of the 1960s, Jordan represented the most explicitly "Nazi" inclination in his open use of the st ...

. Dior issued a press release denouncing the "publicity given by the press and television to erniece Françoise Dior's nonsensical statements. The fame of erbrother

must not be used to highlight the scandal and risk tarnishing a name carried with honour and patriotism by members of my family." She kept on preserving the legacy of her brother until her death. In 1999 Dior inaugurated the opening of the in Granville As well as donating a dress that belonged to her mother, Madeleine Dior, she became the museum's honorary president. Catherine Dior died on 17 June 2008 in Callian aged 90. She was buried near her brother Christian.

Legacy

In September 2019,

Maria Grazia Chiuri Maria Grazia Chiuri (; born February 2, 1964) is an Italian fashion designer. After stints working at Fendi and Valentino, Chiuri was named creative director at Dior. Biography Her maternal grandfather died during the Second World War, leaving he ...

, then the creative director at Christian Dior Italy, dedicated the Spring-Summer 2020 Ready-to-Wear runway collection to Catherine Dior, inspired by her passion for flowers.

In popular culture

Christine Wells' 2021 novel ''Sisters of the Resistance'' tells of two young women Yvette and Gabby, who become involved in Catherine Dior's resistance activities.

Notes

References

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