Gabrielle Duchêne (26 February 1870 – 3 August 1954) was a French feminist and pacifist who was active in the French section of the

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...

(WILPF).

Early years

Gabrielle Duchêne was born into a bourgeois family in Paris on 26 February 1870. Although she became a socialist, she was a wealthy woman. She became interested in politics with the Dreyfus affair, and then became involved in philanthropic work. In 1908 she co-founded ''Entr’aide'' (Mutual Aid), a cooperative for the makers of lingerie and fashion items. In the following years she fought against exploitation of home workers in the garment industry, for higher wages and improved working conditions, for establishing a law defining minimum wages (which was enacted on 10 July 1915), for equal pay and for the promotion of syndicalism through education of the workers. Duchêne was a member of the council of the Chemiserie-Lingerie union, and from 1913 to 1915 she was president of the labor section of the

National Council of French Women The National Council of French Women (, CNFF) is a society formed in 1901 to promote women's rights. The first members were mainly prosperous women who believed in using non-violent means to obtain rights by presenting the justice of the cause. Iss ...

(CNFF: ''Conseil National des femmes françaises''). She founded the French Office of Home Labor (OFTD: ''Office français du Travail à domicile'') in 1913. She also founded the French Office for Women's Interests (OFIF: ''Office français des intérêts féminins''). Duchêne tried to reconcile radical unionist feminists with politically moderate bourgeois feminists, and promoted collaboration between the two groups.

World War I

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914–18) Duchêne founded and became Assistant Secretary of the Inter-Union Committee for Action Against Exploitation of Women (CIACEF: ''Comité intersyndical d’action contre l’exploitation de la femme''). From the start of the war she was one of the small minority of pacifists who refused to accept the

Union sacrée The Sacred Union (, ) was a political truce in the French Third Republic in which the left-wing agreed during World War I not to oppose the government or call any strikes. Made in the name of patriotism, it stood in opposition to the pledge made ...

, an agreement by the left wing not to strike or take other action that could hinder the war effort. In 1915 Duchêne ceased union activism to devote her efforts to the pacifist cause, but retained her interest in the economic liberation of women. That year she was invited to the Hague Congress, where she met pacifists from many countries and where the idea emerged of creating an international league of women for pacifism and liberty. She was President of the French section of the International Committee of Women for Permanent Peace (''Comité international des femmes pour la paix permanente'') founded in 1915. Duchene continued to agitate for peace throughout the war, without regard for her reputation or the risk of prosecution. The ''Comité d'Action Suffragiste'' (CAS) was created in December 1917, directed by Jeanne Mélin, Marthe Bigot and Gabrielle Duchêne. The CAS organized meetings to which they tried to attract workers, for example by showing films. As well as agitating for women's suffrage, the CAS wanted to organize a referendum to end the fighting.

Later years

The

(WILPF, ''Ligue internationale des femmes pour la paix et la liberté'') was founded in 1919. Duchêne created the French section of the WILPF and directed it until her death in 1954. As she acknowledged, the Women's International League members were "women of the privileged classes". Until

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(1939–45) Duchene was deeply involved in the WILPF, both in France and internationally. Duchêne was not given a passport to attend the peace conference in Zurich in 1919, but she and fifteen working women sent a letter to the congress that offered to "women of other nations good wishes and assurance that we are ready to work with them more ardently than ever to prepare the 'peace of tomorrow. She was among the WILPF delegates at the Versailles Peace Conference. After participating in the campaign to aid Russia between 1920 and 1923, she became increasingly sympathetic to the Russians. Following this she was associated with organizations such as the League against Imperialism and Colonial Oppression, and the Society of Friends of the USSR. Duchêne's pacifist beliefs were gradually influenced by the Russian experience, and have been called "tinged pacifism". In February 1927 Duchêne participated in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in the Congress where the League against imperialism and colonial oppression was founded. Under the guidance of the

Third International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internation ...

the league tried to develop struggles for independence in the European colonies. She made her first visit to Russia in October 1927. On her return she was openly a "fellow traveler" of the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

. She thought of Russia as a "land of peace" and a place where women were liberated, but did not have any profound understanding of Communist ideology. She was founder and secretary general of the Circle of the New Russia (''Cercle de la Russie Neuve''), which claimed to be independent of Russia and apolitical. However, her pacifist writings and speech included communist and pro-Russian propaganda, which caused tensions in the French section of the WILPF and in the WILPF's International Executive Committee. Duchêne participated in the General Conference on Disarmament in Frankfurt (1929) and in Paris (1932). In August 1932 Duchêne participated in developing the Congress Against Imperialist War, and in forming the World Committee Against War (''Comité mondial contre la guerre''). In the Congress Against War and Imperialism in Amsterdam, where the foundations were laid for the Amsterdam-Pleyel Movement, she was sponsored by

Romain Rolland Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and Mysticism, mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary pro ...

and

Henri Barbusse Henri Barbusse (; 17 May 1873 – 30 August 1935) was a French novelist, short story writer, journalist, poet and political activist. He began his literary career in the 1890s as a Symbolist poet and continued as a neo-Naturalist novelist; i ...

. She was then one of the secretaries of the

World Committee Against War and Fascism The World Committee Against War and Fascism was an international organization sponsored by the Communist International, that was active in the struggle against Fascism in the 1930s. During this period Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, Italy ...

. In 1934 Duchêne organized the World Assembly of Women, and chaired its World Committee of Women against War and Fascism (CMF: ''Comité mondial des femmes contre la guerre et le fascisme''). The CMF was formed at a congress in Paris in August 1934. Cor Ramondt-Hirschmann of the Netherlands records that the invitation left "no doubt whatever" about "the absolute communist character" of the proposal, although groups and individuals with diverse opinions were invited. Duchêne said the congress had a mood of great enthusiasm and brought together "the women that race, geographical situation, social milieu, intellectual formation, religion, philosophical conviction, individual or general interests, everything, finally, had separated until now". Efforts were made to avoid the meeting being a Communist Congress, but a WILPF member said the congress was pervaded by "the powerful current of Communist sympathy. The WILPF supported the CMF but remained a separate entity. Duchêne was present at the founding conference of the Universal Assembly for Peace in Brussels in September 1936.

(1939–45) was a difficult period for Duchêne, but by great good fortune her apartment was never raided and her records remain intact. Gabrielle Duchêne died on 3 August 1954 in Zurich, Switzerland, at the age of 84.

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