Danielle Casanova | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | Vincentella Perini 9 January 1909 |
| Died | 9 May 1943(1943-05-09) (aged 34) |
| Cause of death | Typhus |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation(s) | Activist, journalist, dental surgeon |
| Known for | French Resistance |
| Political party | Communist |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | Emma Choury andRenée Perini [fr] (sisters) |
| Awards | Legion of Honour |
Danielle Casanova (French:[danjɛlkazanɔva]; bornVincentella Perini; 9 January 1909 – 9 May 1943) was a Frenchcommunist activist and member of theFrench Resistance duringWorld War II. A dentist by occupation, she was a high-ranking figure within theCommunist Youth and founded its women's organisationUnion des Jeunes Filles de France (UJFF, Union of Young French Women) in 1936. Casanova was arrested on 15 February 1942 as she brought coal toGeorges Politzer and his wife; she had been involved in organising actions against the German occupiers. First incarcerated atLa Santé Prison in Paris, she was transferred to theFort de Romainville for causing unrest with the help of fellow prisoners. Casanova was deported toAuschwitz on 24 January 1943, where she began working as a dentist at the camp infirmary. She died oftyphus shortly thereafter. She was posthumously awarded theLegion of Honour.
Vincentella Périni was born on 9 January 1909 inAjaccio,Corsica, to the schoolteacher parents Olivier and Marie Hyacinthe (née Versini). Nicknamed "Lella" as a child, she had three sisters and one brother. After finishing secondary school she moved to Paris in November 1927 to study dentistry.[1]
In Paris, she became interested in politics and joined theUnion Fédérale des Étudiants (Federal Union of Students), where she met her future husband,Laurent Casanova, another Corsican. In 1928 she joined the Young Communist League of France.[2] She began to call herself "Danielle" and quickly became Group Secretary to the Faculty of Medicine. Still studying, she joined the Central Committee of the movement at the Seventh Congress of June 1932 as its only female member, and took up its direction in February 1934. Faced with the rapid expansion of the Communist Youth, the Eighth Congress inMarseilles of 1936 charged her with creating the UJFF. This organisation, though similar to the Communist Youth, was aimed at creating apacifist,anti-fascist movement. She was elected Secretary-General of the UJFF. At its First Congress in December 1936, she organised a collection of milk for young malnourished Spanish victims of theCivil War and helped collect and ship relief supplies to Spanishrepublican forces.[3]
In October 1938, Danielle served as leader of the French delegation to the United States at the World Congress of Youth for Peace at Vassar College. When the French Communist Youth was banned in September 1939, Danielle Casanova went into hiding. She founded the newspaperTrait d'union (Hyphen).[4] In October 1940, after thefall of France, she helped establish women's committees in the Paris region, while still writing for the underground press, especiallyPensée Libre (Free Thought). She also foundedVoix des Femmes (Women's Voice). She organised demonstrations against the occupying forces, including the events of 8 November and 11 November 1940[5] caused by ProfessorPaul Langevin's arrest, and also the demonstration of 14 July 1941 that she organised.[3] On 2 August 1941 Casanova metAlbert Ouzoulias inMontparnasse and placed him in charge of theBataillons de la Jeunesse (Youth Battalions), fighting groups that were being created by theJeunesses Communistes (Communist Youth).[6]
On 11 February 1942, Danielle was arrested by French Police while entering the hiding place of a Jewish couple,Georges Politzer and his wife Maï, at 170 bis, rue de Grenelle in the 7th arrondissement. French Police of the Special Anticommunist Brigade (BS) had been following Danielle since 23 January after spotting her carrying a large suitcase to that same building (it contained coal for the Politzers).[7] They were all taken to theSpecial Brigade headquarters where they were interrogated until 23 March. Danielle managed to get a letter to her mother.[7]
At the end of March, she was moved to the German section ofla Sante jail. On 24 August 1942 she was moved to the transit campFort de Romainville and handed over to the German authorities.[3]
Transported toAuschwitz on 24 January 1943, she arrived on 27 January. She was assigned to the camp infirmaryRevier to work as adentist on theKapos.[8] She helped other women from theConvoi des 31000.[a] passing Maïe Politzer as a doctor and other women, includingMadeleine Passot, as nurses. Even in jail and inconcentration camp, Danielle did not stop campaigning and organising clandestine publications and events. She died oftyphus on 9 May 1943.[10]
Je suis morte pour la France (I am dead for France).
— Danielle Casanova's last words,[8]
According to the biography thatSimone Tery wrote about her in 1949 (Du Soleil Plein le Coeur), when news of her death reached her home in Corsica, “the church bells rang out in every village".[11] Her ashes were later placed in the family grave in Vistale, a hamlet nearPiana where there is a memorial to her.[12]A heroine of French Resistance, she has lent her name to streets, schools, and colleges throughout France; notablyRue Danielle Casanova inParis. A large SCNM ferry betweenMarseilles andCorsica is calledMS Danielle Casanova. She has been featured on a commemorative French postage stamp in 1983.[12]
