Suzanne Girault
Suzanne Girault | |
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Senator of Seine | |
In office 1946–1958 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Suzanne Depollier (1882-07-28)28 July 1882 La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland |
Died | 20 September 1973(1973-09-20) (aged 91) Paris, France |
Nationality | French |
Suzanne Girault (28 July 1882 – 20 September 1973) was a Swiss-born French politician. From 1923 to 1925, with Albert Treint [fr], she was one of the main leaders of the French Communist Party. She served in the French Senate from 1946 to 1958 as a member of the Communist Party.[1][2]
She was born Suzanne Depollier in La Chaux-de-Fonds. She was officially the daughter of François Dépollier and Louise Tissot-Daguerre, but her biological father, who also would raise her, was Auguste Spichiger [fr], a Swiss watchmaker and anarchist. She left Switzerland for Moscow in the winter of 1899. She worked as a teacher there. She subsequently married a Russian Nicolas Frenkel and settled in Odessa; the couple had two children. At the start of World War I, the family moved to Kiev. During the October Revolution, she worked with the Bolshevik party without actually becoming a member. She joined the French Communist Group in Moscow and worked as a translator for the Communist International. She also was personal secretary for Angelica Balabanoff.[3]
In the early 1920s, she was sent to France.[3] She became a leader of the Seine Federation of the French Communist Party, serving until she was removed by Joseph Stalin in 1926. She remained head of the Women's Commission.[2]
From 1946 to 1958, she was senator for the Seine department. She did not run for reelection in 1958.[3][1]
In 1967, she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner by the Soviet government.[3]
Girault died in Paris at the age of 91.[1]
References
- ^ a b c "GIRAULT Suzanne". Anciens sénateurs IVème République (in French). Senate of France.
- ^ a b Gruber, Helmut; Graves, Pamela (1998). Women and Socialism - Socialism and Women: Europe Between the World Wars. p. 324. ISBN 1785330063.
- ^ a b c d "Fonds Suzanne GIRAULT" (PDF). Archives du Parti communiste français (in French).