Geneviève de Gaulle Anthonioz (1920–2002)

Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz was born in Saint-Jean-de-Valériscle in southern France. Her paternal uncle was Charles de Gaulle, later General and President of France. At the occupation of France by Germany in World War II in 1940, she joined the Resistance to gather intelligence, expand the group's information networks, and recruit more fighters. She was arrested by the French Gestapo in 1943 and sent to the concentration camp at Ravensbrück. She survived the camp and the war. In 1946, she married Bernard Anthonioz, a fellow Resistance member and art editor, with whom she had four children. She worked with ATD (Aide à Toute Détresse) Fourth World movement to support poor and underprivileged people worldwide. She wrote a book about her wartime experiences called La Traversée de la nuit (The Crossing of the Night, 1998), also known as The Dawn of Hope: A Memoir of Ravensbrück. It was also published as God Remained Outside -- An Echo of Ravensbruck. With Resistance comrade Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier, she founded the ADIR (Association of Deportees and Internees of the Résistance), and later served as its president. In 1987, she testified at the trial of the Nazi Klaus Barbie. She was the first Frenchwoman awarded the Grand-Croix of the Legion of Honor.