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Yvonne Ziegler

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Yvonne Ziegler
Born
Yvonne Henriette Marie Lefeuve

1 June 1902
Garches, Île-de-France, France
Died16 January 1988
Lisieux, Normandy, France
Other namesVéronique
EducationAcadémie Julian
Occupation(s)French resistance fighter, painter, sculptor, engraver, educator
PartnerSuzanne Leclézio (early 1930s–1987)
AwardsCroix de Guerre,
Resistance Medal

Yvonne Ziegler (née Yvonne Henriette Marie Lefeuve; 1 June 1902 – 16 January 1988) was a French resistance fighter, painter, sculptor, engraver, and educator.[1] She had founded and directed the Académie Ziegler in Paris. Ziegler worked in the French resistance with the Cohors-Asturies [fr] network and alongside her partner Suzanne Leclézio. They were both deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp, and survived. Ziegler was also known by her French resistance code name, Véronique.

Early life and education

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Yvonne Ziegler was born as Yvonne Henriette Marie Lefeuve on 1 June 1902, in Garches in Île-de-France, France.[1][2][3]

Ziegler was a student of the Académie Julian in Paris,[4] and had also studied under artists Lucien Simon and Paul Albert Laurens.[1]

Career

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Marcadet Street Health Center (later known as Centre d'hygiène sociale, chemin de fer du Nord) at 22 rue Marcadet
Marcadet Street Health Center (also known as Centre d'hygiène sociale, chemin de fer du Nord) at 22 rue Marcadet

Ziegler was recognized in the 1930s for her artwork, and exhibited in 1937 at the Salon d'Automne in Paris.[1] She was known for her landscape paintings, women's portraits, and nudes. She founded her own academy in Paris, the Académie Ziegler, at 1 rue de la Grande-Chaumière, in the Notre-Dame-des-Champs district.

Starting in the early 1930s her lesbian partner was social worker Suzanne Leclézio, and together they lived in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, at 43 rue Boissonade.[5] Ziegler and Leclézio joined the Cohors-Asturies [fr] resistance network together as second lieutenants.[2][6] Ziegler took the code name "Véronique".[7]

The couple housed resistance fighters in their home, and started a health centre at 22 rue Marcadet, the "Marcadet Street Health Center" (also known as Centre d'hygiène sociale, chemin de fer du Nord) where they saved Jewish families in the 18th arrondissement of Paris.[6]

Ziegler and Leclézio were denounced, and the Gestapo arrested them on 27 July 1944, at their home on Rue Boissonade. They were tortured, then taken to the Fresnes prison and imprisoned, and followed by deportation by the last convoy of political prisoners on 15 August 1944 to the Ravensbrück concentration camp.[5][8][7] Ziegler and Leclézio escaped during the death marches, and in May 1945 were liberated by the Red Army.

Upon her return, Leclézio remained the director of the Marcadet Street Health Center until 1984.

Ziegler received the French military decoration Croix de Guerre and the Resistance Medal.[7] Leclézio was named a Chevalier (Knight) of the Legion of Honour, received the Croix de Guerre, and the Resistance Medal.[7]

They retired to Calvados,[7] at La Charretterie, a Normandy farm. They ended their lives in the retirement home of Blangy-le-Château in Normandy, France.

Death and legacy

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Leclézio died in 1987, the retirement home; a few months later Ziegler died on 16 January 1988, in Lisieux.[8][3]

The history of Leclézio and Ziegler was lost for many years, and in more recent times it has been documented by French history researcher Laurent Thévenet.[7]

In 2022, a tribute plaque was placed at 22 rue Marcadet, honoring both women and their work.[6][7][9] The text on this plaque was deliberated on by the Paris Council, and was the first time the word "lesbian" was used on a public plaque in France.[10][11]

A small park in Paris is named "Square du 21-avril-1944", in reference to the date of a nearby bombing that occurred in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, leaving 500 death, and many of the wounded had been treated at the Marcadet Street Health Center.[7]

Exhibitions

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  • 1935, Les Femmes Artistes Modernes, Society of Modern Women Artists group exhibition, 18 rue Erlanger, Paris, France
  • 1935, Exposition de peintures, sculptures, arts décoratifs, Society of Modern Women Artists group exhibition, Bernheim-Jeune gallery, Paris, France[12]
  • 1937, Salon d'Automne, group exhibition, Paris, France[1]
  • 1937, Exhibition of Paintings, French Landscapes, and Portraits by Yvonne Ziegler, solo exhibition, 27 King Street, Palser Gallery, London, England[13][14][15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Ziegler, Yvonne". Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Oxford University Press. 31 October 2011. doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.b00201950. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Yvonne Marie Henriette Ziegler". Mémoire des Hommes (in French). Archived from the original on 12 February 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Lefeuve, Yvonne Henriette Marie, Garches 01/06/1902 – Lisieux 16/01/1988". MatchID (in French).
  4. ^ "Académie Julian". One Arty Minute Magazine (in French). Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  5. ^ a b Allezard, Clemence (5 May 2020). "Lesbiennes sous le Troisième Reich: des vies passées sous silence" [Lesbians in the Third Reich: Lives Spent in Silence]. KOMITID (in French). Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  6. ^ a b c Delon, Stéphanie (6 March 2022). "Suzanne Leclézio et Yvonne Ziegler vont avoir une plaque à leur nom". Jeanne Magazine (in French). Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Vincent, Anthony (9 March 2022). "Le couple de résistantes Suzanne Leclézio et Yvonne Ziegler ont désormais une plaque à Paris, et leur histoire vaut le détour". Madmoizelle (in French). Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  8. ^ a b "Suzanne Leclezio (1898-1987) et Yvonne Ziegler (1902-1988)". Constellations Brisées (in French). Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  9. ^ "8 mars: Paris ravive la mémoire de deux résistantes lesbiennes" [March 8: Paris revives the memory of two deported lesbian resistance fighters]. Tetu.com (in French). 8 March 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  10. ^ Turbiau, Aurore (24 April 2022). "Quels sont les noms qui rayonnent dans la littérature lesbienne ?". The Conversation. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  11. ^ Dubuard, Tiphaine (11 March 2022). "Plaque pour Suzanne Leclézio et Yvonne Ziegler : la difficile évocation publique de l'homosexualité d'un couple de résistantes". KOMITID (in French). Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  12. ^ Exhibition of paintings, sculptures, decorative arts. 1935, 1935, from May 28 to June 7, Galerie Bernheim-jeune... Paris / FAM, Modern Women Artists... ,1935 https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k851883g
  13. ^ Apollo. Vol. 25. Apollo. 1937. p. 45 – via Google Books. Madame Yvonne Ziegler, who exhibited her oil paintings at the Palser Gallery, is a French artist
  14. ^ Studio International. Vol. 113. National Magazine Company. 1937. p. 288 – via Google Books.
  15. ^ "A Painter of Flowers". The Daily Telegraph. 17 March 1937. p. 22. Retrieved 12 February 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
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