Chartèves
Chartèves () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Population
Culture Personalities
* (1872-1952) resided her
* Marie Drouet (1885-1963) was born in
* Léon Augustin Lhermitte (1844-1925) painted ...
on April 17, 1885 and died in
Bétheny
Bétheny () is a commune in the Marne department in northeastern France.
Population
Personalities
* Marie Drouet (1885-1963) died there See also
*Communes of the Marne department
The following is a list of the 613 communes in the French de ...
on November 19, 1963) was a French heroine of
World War I
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 ...
.
Biography
Born April 17, 1885, in Chartèves in the department of
Aisne
Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345. she is the third daughter of Auguste Juillard and Victorine Marchand.
She married Charles Drouet on January 15, 1906, in Bétheny where she lived and ran a grocery store called “Le Pot-au-rouge” on Henri-Gand street.
In 1914, Marie Drouet's husband was at the front in
Verdun
Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.
Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...
. Despite her family charge of four children, she saves many wounded lying on the battlefields around
Reims
Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne.
Founded by ...
.
She died on November 19, 1963, in Bétheny, where she continued her job as a grocer.Bernard Cornuaille, ''Femmes d'Exception en Champagne, Marie Drouet,'' Le Papillon Rouge Editeur, 2016 pp. 181–189
WWI civil heroine
Throughout the conflict, avoiding French and German encampments, she transported the wounded from the battlefield to the hospital using her plow and donkey. It also informed the French artillerymen on German positions by means of slips of paper displayed at her windows.
Suspected by the French secret service of working for the enemy, the order accompanying the captain who came to arrest her at her home exonerates her. He recognized the person who picked up the wounded, the incident was closed and Marie cleared.
It was during this period that she gave birth to her fifth child.
Legacy
Marie received a medal from the city of Reims shortly after the Armistice, after which she fell into anonymity until her death in 1963. The month following her burial, an article in the newspaper ' recounted her exploits.
In 2014, still in the same newspaper, a second article was devoted to her on the occasion of the hundred years of the First World War. In April 2018,
Val-de-Vesle
Val-de-Vesle () is a commune in the Marne department in the Grand Est region in north-eastern France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas reg ...
dedicated a street to her. In September 2018, on the occasion of Heritage Days, the ''Association of Friends of Old Bétheny'', organized an exhibition dedicated to her at the Bétheny museum to commemorate her rescue of many wounded. In 2018, during the commemorations of the
Armistice of 11 November 1918
The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...
, a tribute was paid to her in front of the monument to the dead of Bétheny.