Louise Weiss
Encyclopedia
Louise Weiss was a French
author, journalist, feminist and European
politician.
. The ancestors of her Jewish mother, Jeanne Javal
, originated from the small Alsatian town of Seppois-le-Bas
. Her father, Paul Louis Weiss, a mining engineer, was a distinguished Alsatian Protestant from La Petite-Pierre
. She grew up in Paris with five siblings, was trained as a teacher against the will of her family, was a teacher at a secondary school for arts and awarded a diploma from Oxford University. From 1914 to 1918, she worked as a war nurse and founded a hospital in the Côtes-du-Nord. From 1918 to 1934, she was the publisher of the magazine, L'Europe nouvelle. From 1935 to the beginning of World War II
, she committed herself to women's suffrage
. In 1936, she stood for French parliamentary elections, running in the Fifth arrondissement of Paris. During the War, she was active in the French Resistance
. She was a member of the Patriam Recuperare network, and she was chief editor of the secret magazine, "Nouvelle République" from 1942 until 1944. In 1945, she founded the Institute for Polemology (research on war and conflict) together with Gaston Bouthoul in London
. She travelled around the Middle East
, Japan
, China
, Vietnam
, Africa
, Kenya
, Madagascar
, Alaska
, India
, etc., made documentary films and wrote accounts of her travels. In 1975, she unsuccessfully tried twice to be admitted to the Académie Française
. In 1979, she became a Member of the European Parliament
for the Gaullist Party (now Union for a Popular Movement
).
, she published her first press reports under a pseudonym
. In Paris, she came in contact with her first great loves, representatives of countries striving for independence, such as Eduard Beneš, Thomáš Masaryk and Milan Štefánik
. Between 1919 and 1939, she often travelled to Czechoslovakia
. In 1918, she founded the weekly newspaper, "Europe nouvelle" (New Europe), which she published until 1934. Thomas Mann
, Gustav Stresemann
, Rudolf Breitscheid
and Aristide Briand
were among her co-authors on the paper. Louise Weiss described those who paved the way for the closening of the German-French relationship between the World Wars as "peace pilgrims", and they called their important co-worker "my good Louise". Europe dreamed of unification and in 1930, she founded the "Ecole de la Paix" (School of Peace), a private institute for international relations. With the takeover by the National Socialists in Germany
, the possibility of a unification was over.
In 1979, Louise Weiss stood as a candidate of the Gaullist Party
in the first European election
in 1979. On 17 July 1979 she was elected as a French Member of the European Parliament
(MEP), sitting with the European People's Party
. At the time of the first election, aged 86, she was the oldest member in Parliament and thus the EP's first 'oldest member'. She remained MEP and oldest member until her death on 26 May 1983, aged 90.
in France, organised suffragette commands, demonstrated and had herself chained to a street light in Paris with other women. In 1935, she unsuccessfully sued against the "inability of women to vote" before the French Conseil d'État.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
author, journalist, feminist and European
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
politician.
Life
Louise Weiss came from a cosmopolitan family of AlsaceAlsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
. The ancestors of her Jewish mother, Jeanne Javal
Javal family
The Javal family originated in Alsace. They benefited from Napoleon I's policy of openness toward Jews, and in the nineteenth century experienced a remarkable ascent, with family members becoming prominent bankers, industrialists, physicians, public officials and artists...
, originated from the small Alsatian town of Seppois-le-Bas
Seppois-le-Bas
Seppois-le-Bas is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
. Her father, Paul Louis Weiss, a mining engineer, was a distinguished Alsatian Protestant from La Petite-Pierre
La Petite-Pierre
La Petite-Pierre is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
. She grew up in Paris with five siblings, was trained as a teacher against the will of her family, was a teacher at a secondary school for arts and awarded a diploma from Oxford University. From 1914 to 1918, she worked as a war nurse and founded a hospital in the Côtes-du-Nord. From 1918 to 1934, she was the publisher of the magazine, L'Europe nouvelle. From 1935 to the beginning of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she committed herself to women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
. In 1936, she stood for French parliamentary elections, running in the Fifth arrondissement of Paris. During the War, she was active in the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
. She was a member of the Patriam Recuperare network, and she was chief editor of the secret magazine, "Nouvelle République" from 1942 until 1944. In 1945, she founded the Institute for Polemology (research on war and conflict) together with Gaston Bouthoul in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. She travelled around the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, etc., made documentary films and wrote accounts of her travels. In 1975, she unsuccessfully tried twice to be admitted to the Académie Française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
. In 1979, she became a Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
for the Gaullist Party (now Union for a Popular Movement
Union for a Popular Movement
The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party...
).
The European Woman
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, she published her first press reports under a pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
. In Paris, she came in contact with her first great loves, representatives of countries striving for independence, such as Eduard Beneš, Thomáš Masaryk and Milan Štefánik
Milan Rastislav Štefánik
Milan Rastislav Štefánik , Kingdom of Hungary – May 4, 1919 in Ivanka pri Dunaji, Czechoslovakia) was a Slovak politician, diplomat, and astronomer. During World War I, he was General of the French Army, at the same time the Czechoslovak Minister of War, one of the leading members of the...
. Between 1919 and 1939, she often travelled to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. In 1918, she founded the weekly newspaper, "Europe nouvelle" (New Europe), which she published until 1934. Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
, Gustav Stresemann
Gustav Stresemann
was a German politician and statesman who served as Chancellor and Foreign Minister during the Weimar Republic. He was co-laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926.Stresemann's politics defy easy categorization...
, Rudolf Breitscheid
Rudolf Breitscheid
Rudolf Breitscheid, was a leading member of the Social Democratic Party and a delegate to the Reichstag during the era of the Weimar Republic in Germany....
and Aristide Briand
Aristide Briand
Aristide Briand was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic and received the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize.- Early life :...
were among her co-authors on the paper. Louise Weiss described those who paved the way for the closening of the German-French relationship between the World Wars as "peace pilgrims", and they called their important co-worker "my good Louise". Europe dreamed of unification and in 1930, she founded the "Ecole de la Paix" (School of Peace), a private institute for international relations. With the takeover by the National Socialists in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the possibility of a unification was over.
In 1979, Louise Weiss stood as a candidate of the Gaullist Party
Gaullist Party
In France, the Gaullist Party is usually used to refer to the largest party professing to be Gaullist. Gaullism claimed to transcend the left/right rift...
in the first European election
European Parliament election, 1979
The 1979 European elections were parliamentary elections held across all 9 European Community member states. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the European Parliament, and also the first international election in history.Seats in the...
in 1979. On 17 July 1979 she was elected as a French Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
(MEP), sitting with the European People's Party
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...
. At the time of the first election, aged 86, she was the oldest member in Parliament and thus the EP's first 'oldest member'. She remained MEP and oldest member until her death on 26 May 1983, aged 90.
The Women's Rights Activist
In 1934, she founded the association, La femme nouvelle (The New Woman) with Cécile Brunsvicg, and she strove for a stronger role of women in public life. She participated in campaigns for the right of women to voteWomen's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
in France, organised suffragette commands, demonstrated and had herself chained to a street light in Paris with other women. In 1935, she unsuccessfully sued against the "inability of women to vote" before the French Conseil d'État.
Biographies
- Souvenirs d'une enfance républicaine, Paris, 1937
- Ce que femme veut, Paris, 1946
- Mémoires d'une Européenne, Paris 1968-1976
Novels
- Délivrance, Paris 1936
- La Marseillaise, Vol. I and II Paris, 1945; Vol. III Paris 1947
- Sabine Legrand, Paris 1951
- Dernières Voluptés, Paris, 1979
Theatrical Works
- Arthur ou les joies du suicide
- Sigmaringen ou les potentats du néant
- Le récipiendaire
- La patronne
- Adaptation des Dernières Voluptés
Travel Books
- L'or, le camion et la croix, Paris, 1949
- Le voyage enchanté, Paris, 1960
- Le Cachemire, Les Albums des Guides Bleus, Paris, 1955
Honours
- The main building of the European Parliament in StrasbourgSeat of the European Parliament in StrasbourgThe city of Strasbourg is the official seat of the European Parliament. The institution is legally bound to meet there twelve sessions a year lasting about four days each. Other work takes place in Brussels and Luxembourg City...
bears her name. - A street in the 12e arrondissement in Paris is named for her.
- A primary school built by Fritz BebloFritz BebloFriedrich Karl Ewald Beblo, called Fritz Beblo was a German city planner, architect and painter....
in Strasbourg-Neudorf now bears her name. - Honorary member of the Upper University CouncilUniversity of StrasbourgThe University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with about 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers....
in Strasbourg. - Winner of the Robert Schuman PrizeRobert Schuman PrizeThe Robert Schuman Prize for European unity was a prize awarded annually by the Hamburg Alfred Toepfer Foundation, in memory of former French Prime Minister, Robert Schuman. The award, first given in 1966, was discontinued in 2000....
- Grand Officer of the Legion of HonorLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
Foundation
Each year, the Louise Weiss Foundation awards a prize to the author or the institution which has contributed the most to the advancement of the science of peace, the improvement of human relations and efforts of benefit to Europe.Literature
Florence Hervé: Frauengeschichten - Frauengesichter, Vol. 4, trafo verlag 2003, 150 pp., illustrated, ISBN 3-89626-423-0External links
- French biography
- The Louise Weiss Museum in Rohan CastleRohan CastleRohan Castle , also known as Château Neuf , is a Neoclassicist monumental building in the city of Saverne in Alsace, France...
, SaverneSaverneSaverne is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km N.W... - L'Association des Journalistes Européens has organized the Louise Weiss prize for European journalism every year since 2005.
- Vicki Caron, Biography of Louise Weiss, Jewish Women Encyclopedia