Nathalie Lemel

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Nathalie Lemel

Nathalie Lemel (26 August 1827 – 1921

Nouvelle Calédonie with Louise Michel
.

Bookbinder

Nathalie Lemel was born in

Quimper where they opened a bookshop. Their business lasted until 1861, when the couple declared bankruptcy due to Jérôme's drinking problem, and Nathalie left him with their three children and went to Paris in order to find work.[4]

Militant

She worked as a bookbinder and retailer in Paris, and then became a socialist activist.

International Workers Association (IWA, aka First International) was created in London in the midst of the agitated social climate in Europe. In August 1864, the bookbinders all went on strike in the middle of a very large conflict, where one of the best known militants was Eugène Varlin
. In 1865, Nathalie Lemel joined the First International. When a new strike was called, she was a member of the strike committee and was elected union delegate, which was a rare position for a woman to hold in those days. She distinguished herself by her determination and organisation: she fought notably for the equality of salaries between men and women. According to a police report,

She was noticed because of her intense excitement and her political activism; in the workshops, she read bad newspapers aloud; she assiduously frequented the [union] clubs.

This was in addition to her strong opposition to the

co-op, and "The Pot" ("La Marmite"),[7]
an open restaurant (that would account for four establishments in all for 8000 workers). She was employed there to prepare meals.

Activist

la Madeleine

The insurrection began on 18 March 1871. After that date, Lemel was very active in the women's clubs where she often made speeches. These speeches helped to create, with Elisabeth Dmitrieff (a protégée of Karl Marx), the Women's Union for the Defense of Paris and Care of the Wounded, on 11 April, of which she became a member of the central committee.

On 26 March, following the elections, a revolutionary council was put in place, which counted people such as

Père Lachaise cemetery
. During this period, Nathalie Lemel was on the side of the barricades next to la place Blanche (on rue Pigalle). On top of her fighting against the police, she also cared for the wounded.

After the defeat of the Commune, the War Council condemned her to deportation and exile in the

Henri Rochefort and Louise Michel. Nathalie Lemel and Louise Michel were strongly opposed to separating the women at the deportation site. Nevertheless, they arrived five days after the men, on 14 December 1873, on the peninsula Ducos, where they ended up sharing the same cell; it is possible that she had a certain influence on her cellmate. She had to wait for the amnesty in 1880, enacted by President Félix Faure, before returning to Paris. She was later employed by the newspaper L'Intransigeant and continued her fight for women's rights.[9]

Death and legacy

She died in 1921 in the hospice of Ivry-sur-Seine, in Val-de-Marne.

Street mural by Guy Denning and Shoof

In 2007, a previously anonymous square in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris was named in honour of Nathalie Lemel on International Women's Day (8 March) by decision of the arrondissement council. The place Nathalie Lemel, at the junction of the rue Dupetit-Thouars and the rue de la Corderie, is the site of the former headquarters of the International Workingmen's Association (the First International). Lemel herself lived nearby, in a road then called impasse Béranger.

There are also rues Nathalie Lemel in

Quimper and street artists Guy Denning and Shoof painted a mural to celebrate her in the Pontanézen quarter of Brest.[10]

References

  1. ^ Thomas, Edith (1980). Louise Michel. Black Rose Books. p. 142.
  2. ISBN 978-2-85816-468-4
    . Retrieved 15 October 2010. Née le 26 août 1827 à Brest, Finistère.
  3. ISBN 9782867510281
    . Retrieved 15 October 2010. Elle est née en 1827 à BREST et morte en 1921. Son combat fut très important sous la Commune
  4. ISBN 978-0-253-21705-9
    . Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  5. ISBN 978-0-8014-9140-5
    . Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  6. ISBN 978-2-7384-5981-7
    . Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  7. ISBN 9780870231193
    . Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  8. ^ Sowerwine, Charles (1973). Women and socialism in France, 1871-1921: socialist women's groups from Leonie Rouzade to Louise Saumoneau. University of Wisconsin--Madison. p. 3. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  9. ISBN 9782840963455
    . Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  10. ^ À Brest, une fresque monumentale dessinée par deux stars du Street Art : Guy Denning et Shoof "Une fresque représentant Nathalie Lemel, figure féministe du XIXe siècle, vient d’être réalisée sur les murs..." 24 March 2016 www.connaissancedesarts.com accessed 27 February 2020
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