Louise Compain (also known as Louise Massebiau-Compain; 23 April 1869 – 7 December 1941) was a French novelist, journalist, freelance writer, feminist political activist, social reformer, and suffragist. She was the co-initiator of the feminist movement in France in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Biography
Mélanie Louise Massebiau was born in
Vierzon
Vierzon () is a commune in the Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire, France.
Geography
A medium-sized town by the banks of the river Cher with some light industry and an area of forestry and farming to the north. It is situated some northwest o ...
, France,
on 23 April 1869. She was the daughter of
Jean Louis Adolphe Massebieau, professor at the Faculty of Protestant Theology in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, and Louise Françoise Marie Boissier.
Compain was a member of the
French Union for Women's Suffrage
The French Union for Women's Suffrage (UFSF: french: italic=no, Union française pour le suffrage des femmes) was a French feminist organization formed in 1909 that fought for the right of women to vote, which was eventually granted in 1945. The Un ...
. A writer and journalist, she became known at the beginning of the feminist movement by writing successful feminist novels. Compain was a social reformer who supported causes related to women's suffrage, women's unions, and women's labor struggles. According to Charity Organisation Society (London, England, 1899):—
In
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, October 1888, she married Luc Compain (1864-1889),
Associate Professor at the Lycée de
Chaumont Chaumont can refer to:
Places Belgium
* Chaumont-Gistoux, a municipality in the province of Walloon Brabant
France
* Chaumont-Porcien, in the Ardennes ''département''
* Chaumont, Cher, in the Cher ''département''
* Chaumont-le-Bois, in the C ...
who died accidentally on 17 November 1889
while preparing a thesis on the history of
Geoffrey of Vendôme
Geoffrey of Vendôme (Goffridus Abbas Vindocinensis) (c. 1065/70 of a noble family, at Angers, France – 26 March 1132 at Angers, France) was a French Benedictine monk, writer and cardinal.
At an early age he entered the Benedictine communit ...
, published posthumously in 1891.
Compain was the aunt of
Georgette Hammel (née Roustain;
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...
), the great aunt of the feminist sociologist and writer
Évelyne Sullerot, and the resistance activist,
Élisabeth Quintenelle.
Compain died in December 1941 in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
Awards
* Academy prize for ''L'un vers l'autre'' (1903)
Works
* ''La Femme dans les organisations ouvrières'', 1910
* ''La Vie tragique de Geneviève'',1912
* ''L'Amour de Claire'', 1915
* ''La Grand' Pitié des Campagnes de France'', 1917
* ''Les Portes de la vie spirituelle'', 1927
* ''La Robe déchirée'', 1929
* ''Calendrier de la vie spirituelle ou les étapes de l'âme'', 1938
References
Citations
Attribution
*
*
Bibliography
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Compain, Louise
1869 births
1941 deaths
20th-century French non-fiction writers
20th-century French women writers
French feminist writers
People from Vierzon
French social reformers
French suffragists