Jane Marie Apolinaire Léro (also Jeanne Léro; born February 8, 1916, Le Lamentin, Martinique – July 17, 1961, Martinique) was a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

from

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

Biography

She was born the fifth child in a family that would eventually grow to eight children. Her parents had a small mercantile business. She studied at the colonial boarding school (Pensionnat Colonial) for girls in

Fort-de-France Fort-de-France (, , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. History Before it was ceded to France by Spain in 1635, the area of Fort-de-Fra ...

before continuing onto the

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

Schoelcher; at the time, it was unusual for a female student to choose this secondary school because it specialized in math and science. Léro earned the highest honors for her work in mathematics and received 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 ...

in math in 1937 or 1938. Because of her gender, she was unable to travel to France as a youth to receive higher education, like two of her brothers. Her brothers Thélus and Etienne contributed to the radical Martiniquais student journal ''Légitime Défense'' while they were both students in Paris in the 1930s. Léro opened a small store that became a meeting spot for politically active Martinicans. She began to read the literary magazine ''

Tropiques ''Tropiques'' was a quarterly literary magazine published in Martinique from 1941 to 1945. It was founded by Aimé Césaire, Suzanne Césaire, and other Martinican intellectuals of the era, who contributed poetry, essays, and fiction to the magaz ...

'', in which authors such as

Aimé Césaire Aimé Fernand David Césaire (; ; 26 June 1913 – 17 April 2008) was a French poet, author, and politician from Martinique. He was "one of the founders of the Négritude movement in Francophone literature" and coined the word in French. He ...

advanced new theorizations of colonization, politics, and race.

Activism

Léro joined the Communist Party in 1943. In 1944, the first election in which Martiniquais women were able to vote, she organized electoral campaigns and participated in conferences. She also wrote articles for the party's magazine ''Justice.'' In June 1944, Léro led the foundation of the Union des Femmes de la Martinique (l'UFM; Union of Women of Martinique) at the behest of the Communist Party. Her sister-in-law

Yva Léro Yva Léro (4 July 1912 – 25 September 2007) was an Afro-Martiniquais writer and painter. She was one of the earliest Antillean writers in Paris preceding the Négritude movement. An ardent feminist, she participated in international congresses ...

was also a founding member. The feminist organization brought together communists and democrats and fought for causes such as

social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

, healthcare, education, and nutrition. It was radical in its critique of

socioeconomic inequality Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyses ...

and provided many social services for women ignored or underserved by the French government.

Health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

was a main focus.

Voting Voting is the process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot, a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representative ...

was also central to its mission. She served as its president until 1947 or 1949, when she departed for France to pursue higher education in social work. Léro earned a degree in social work in Paris in 1951 and worked in France for several years. Léro returned to Martinique in 1956 to organize social services in the department of Fort-de-France as a government employee. The political landscape had changed, and she was torn between allegiance to the communist party and her friendship with the Césaires. She died in 1961; her cause of death remains unclear.

Honors

Her life and work have been re-centered in Martiniquais history beginning in the early 2000s. She has become the subject of the work of scholars such as Clara Palmiste, Cécile Celma, and Annette Joseph-Gabriel. The

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

response center of the Union of Women of Martinique in Fort-de-France was renamed the "Jane Léro Building" in 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lero, Jane 1916 births 1961 deaths Martiniquais women writers Martiniquais women in politics Communist women writers Martiniquais communists

Biography

Activism

Honors

Further reading

References