Marcelle Marguerite Henry (7 September 1895 – 24 April 1945) was a French civil servant and a member of the

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 ...

during the

Second World War 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 ...

Early life

Henry was born at

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

. Her father was the local Inspector of Public Works; he died before the First World War. She went to school in

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

, before later attending the

Lycée Victor-Duruy In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

in Paris, where she obtained her

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she taught at a boys' school in

Châtillon-sur-Seine Châtillon-sur-Seine (, ) is a commune of the Côte-d'Or department, eastern France. The Musée du Pays Châtillonnais is housed in old abbey of Notre-Dame de Châtillon, within the town, known for its collection of pre-Roman and Roman relics ...

and later at

Langres Langres () is a commune in France, commune in northeastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Haute-Marne, in the Regions of France, region of Grand Est. History As the capital o ...

Career

In 1919, Henry went to work at the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

, as her father had done before her. Her mother died in 1925, leaving Marcelle to look after her brother Victor, who was chronically ill and unable to work. By 1931 she was deputy head of a department, and in 1937 she was put in charge of the office that dealt with the health and safety of workers, still within the Ministry of Labour. In June 1940, she began organising resistance to the German occupation from within her workplace. At her home in

Athis-Mons Athis-Mons () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Athégiens''. A small part of Orly International Airport lies on the territory of the commune of Athis-Mons ...

, she produced and stored pamphlets for distribution to workers; she also sheltered refugees. In 1943 she entered the "Forces Françaises Combattantes", joining the Bureau Central de Renseignements et d’Action (B.C.R.A), where she worked under Henri Levin. In 1942, while working at the ministry, she wrote a short book on the subject of

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

, focusing largely on female workers. On 4 July 1944, she was arrested 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 ...

at her Paris home for questioning as to the whereabouts of one of her political contacts,

Jacques Mitterrand Jacques Mitterrand (10 June 1908 – 5 June 1991) was the Grand Master of the Grand Orient de France and a founder of the small left wing party Union progressiste. Mitterrand was born in Bourges. He was a member of the Council of the French Unio ...

. While an inmate at

Fresnes Prison Fresnes Prison ('' French Centre pénitentiaire de Fresnes'') is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne, south of Paris. It comprises a large men's prison (''maison d'arrêt'') of about 1200 cells, a smal ...

, she was awarded the rank of

Sous-lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

within the Forces Françaises Combattantes. She was sentenced to death but was sent instead to

Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a German concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel). The camp memorial's estimated figure o ...

in August. From then she was sent to

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 ...

, a subsidiary 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 ...

. Although repatriated in April 1945, she died shortly afterwards as a result of the ill-treatment she had received while in captivity. She was one of only six women recognised among the "Compagnons of the Liberation", and one of four of that group that were posthumously recognised. She is buried at the cemetery of Bagneux, Paris.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Marcelle 1895 births 1945 deaths Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur French Resistance members Ravensbrück concentration camp survivors People from Angers Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) French civilians killed in World War II Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany French people who died in Buchenwald concentration camp