Coralie Cahen

Coralie Cahen (née Coralie Lévy; 21 June 1832 – 12 March 1899) was a

sculptor

.

Coralie Lévy was born in

Chemin de Fer du Nord railway company. They had one daughter, Lucie, who died young.^[1]

In 1866 she was involved in founding the "Maison Israélite de Refuge pour l'Enfance", an orphanage for Jewish girls at Romainville (relocated in 1883 to Neuilly-sur-Seine).^[1] In particular the refuge sought to provide an escape for young Jewish prostitutes from the 5th arrondissement of Paris.^[2]

At the outbreak of the

Army of the Loire, she took on the management of the hospital at Vendôme.^[1]

In the following years, Cahen interested herself in the fate of French

war prisoners. She visited 66 Prussian prisons where they were detained, and pleaded personally with the Empress Augusta of Prussia for their release. In 1872, when the Prussian government was refusing to cooperate on this issue, Cahen discovered in Berlin 59,000 files on the prisoners, and succeeded in getting these transmitted to Paris; this was the first news available in France on many of those who had been captured.^[3]

The SSBM recognized Cahen's activities with reluctance and its Ladies Committee was disbanded after the war. In 1879 she joined and became Vice-President of the "Association des Dames Françaises" of the

Légion d'Honneur" for her war work. By then her work was chiefly centred on child protection and education.^[3]

Cahen also became interested in sculpture during the 1870s and created a number of works, including a bust of the French chief rabbi, Zadoc Kahn.^[1]

Her funeral in 1899 was accompanied in her honour by a detachment of infantry.^[3]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Coralie Cahen" . The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
^ Leglaive-Perani, Céline (2008). "L'Association israélite de protection de la jeune fille et la lutte contre la " traite des blanches " au début du XXème siècle". Revue d’histoire de l’enfance "irrégulière" (in French). Openedition. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Alauzet, Virginie; Drot, Géraldine (3 August 2017). "Portrait - Caroline Cahen". Croix Rouge. Retrieved 4 December 2020.

[je-1] Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Coralie Cahen" . The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.

[clp-2] Leglaive-Perani, Céline (2008). "L'Association israélite de protection de la jeune fille et la lutte contre la " traite des blanches " au début du XXème siècle". Revue d’histoire de l’enfance "irrégulière" (in French). Openedition. Retrieved 14 December 2020.

[cr-3] Alauzet, Virginie; Drot, Géraldine (3 August 2017). "Portrait - Caroline Cahen". Croix Rouge. Retrieved 4 December 2020.

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