María Edwards de Errázuriz (née María Edwards McClure or María Errázuriz; 11 December 1893 – 8 June 1972) was a Chilean social worker and Catholic nurse who was honored in November 2005 at

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

memorial (the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority) as one of the "

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 ...

," for her participation during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

in helping to save

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

children in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Her actions were not limited to saving Jews but she also actively helped 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 ...

Life and career

María Edwards was born in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, the daughter of

Agustín Edwards Ross Agustín Edwards Ross (February 17, 1852 – November 1, 1897) was a Chilean businessman and politician. Edwards served as the President of the Senate of Chile from 1893 through 1895. He was the son of Agustín Edwards Ossandón and Juana Ross ...

and of María Luisa McClure Ossandón. While still quite young, she married Guillermo Errázuriz Vergara, and they moved to

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 ...

, where he was to take up his diplomatic post. Errázuriz killed himself in 1922, leaving her a widow; they had one daughter together, María Angélica Errázuriz, who was born in England. After his death, she decided to remain in France. In 1926, she married her second husband, the French writer Jacques Feydeau, though they subsequently divorced soon afterwards. She was a lifelong devout Catholic. During the German occupation of Paris, she worked as a volunteer nurse at the Hôpital Rothschild. While working there, she joined the

, and helped, many times by risking her own life, to rescue Jewish children who had been separated from their parents and were sentenced to be sent to the concentration camps to be eliminated.''Entregarán condecoración a chilena que salvó a niños judíos en París''
''Reshet'' Magazine retrieved June 21, 2008 She was arrested, interrogated and tortured several times 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 ...

, but was able to escape death thanks to her background and diplomatic relations. On September 2, 1953, María Edwards was awarded the

Legion d'Honneur 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 B ...

for bravery in France. She returned to Chile permanently to retire from public life in 1960 and died there in 1972.

Additional information

Notes

External links

María Edwards
at

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards Mcclure, Maria 1893 births 1972 deaths M Chilean people of World War II Chilean Righteous Among the Nations Catholic Righteous Among the Nations Recipients of the Legion of Honour People from Santiago People who rescued Jews during the Holocaust 20th-century Chilean women Chilean Roman Catholics Chilean people of Welsh descent Chilean people of Scottish descent Women in World War II French Resistance members Female resistance members of World War II Female anti-fascists

Life and career

Additional information

See also

Notes

External links