Marie-Louise Giraud
Marie-Louise Giraud (born November 17, 1903 as Marie-Louise Lempérière in Barneville ; † July 30, 1943 in Paris ) was one of two people who were executed in France during World War II for carrying out illegal abortions ( Engelmacher ) .
Life
As a teenager, she was sentenced to two months in prison for theft and fraud. Then she worked as a domestic servant, cleaning lady and laundress. In the 1930s she married Paul Giraud, a seaman by trade. They had two children. In the 1940s, she rents rooms to prostitutes.
background
The Vichy regime declared by law of 15 February 1942 abortion for "crimes against state security" and sat for those abortions in pregnant women (not for the pregnant woman herself) introduced the death penalty determined. Previously, by the law of 1923, those who aborted a pregnant woman were only threatened with imprisonment of one year to five years, while the pregnant women themselves risked six months to two years.
Legal proceedings
Since it was officially an offense against the state, Marie-Louise Giraud was brought before an extraordinary court in Paris, against whose decision no appeal was possible. It was proven that she had terminated the pregnancy of 26 women from Cherbourg and the surrounding area for a fee. One of the women died of sepsis . The death sentence followed on June 8, 1943 . Head of state Philippe Pétain refused a pardon. On July 30, 1943 Marie-Louise Giraud was in the prison of La Roquette in Paris executioner Jules-Henri Desfourneaux by the guillotine beheaded .
The accomplices who mediated the pregnant women, Eulalie Hélène, Jeanne Truffet and Augustine Baroche, a fortune teller, were fined and five, eight and ten years of forced labor, respectively.
After Giraud, another man, Désiré Piogé, was executed on October 22, 1943 for carrying out three abortions. After the liberation of France, the law was repealed.
reception
Claude Chabrol based his 1988 film A Woman's Thing on the Giraud case . The protagonist is called "Marie Latour" and is played by Isabelle Huppert .
Web links
- Story of Women in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Summary of the film A woman thing
- Report on Marie-Louise Giraud (French; mistake in the text: she was not the last woman to be executed in France.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Marie-Louise Giraud, "faiseuse d'anges". In: L'Histoire par les femmes. September 18, 2014, accessed on July 15, 2020 (Fri-FR).
- ↑ Abolition de la peine de mort en France: chronology | Vie publique.fr. Retrieved July 14, 2020 .
- ^ A b L'Affaire Marie-Louise Giraud. In: Procès historiques. Le ministère de la Justice, July 2, 2020, accessed on July 14, 2020 (Fri-FR).
- ^ Pour la première fois une avorteuse est condamnée à mort. In: Paris-soir. June 10, 1943, accessed July 14, 2020 (French).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Giraud, Marie-Louise |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lempérière, Marie-Louise |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French people executed for abortion |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 17th November 1903 |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 30, 1943 |
| Place of death | Paris |