Jeannette Vermeersch
Encyclopedia
Jeannette Vermeersch was a French
politician.
She is principally known for having been the companion (1932–1947) and then the wife (1947–1964) of Maurice Thorez
, general secretary of the French Communist Party
(PCF), with whom she had three children, born before their union was made official.
, Nord as the seventh of nine children in a family of workers, Jeannette Vermeersch joined the workforce at the age of ten, despite the fact that at the time, children under the age of 13 were legally prohibited from working. Her first job was as a servant at a wine merchant's, then in a bourgeois family, before she entered a textile factory as a worker in 1921, all the while continuing to do chores after her hours of work at the factory.
She began activity as a union activist
in 1927. Through connections she formed in the union, she came to discover communism
, whose growth as a movement was then in full swing in France, several years after the Tours Congress
, and she founded a section of Young Communists. Her communist activity led her, in 1929, to be designated to take part in a delegation of textile workers who travelled to explore the Soviet Union
. While her comrades returned to France, Jeannette Vermeersch chose to prolong her stay, remaining in Moscow for several months and working "for the cause". It is on this occasion that she would have heard the name of Maurice Thorez
spoken for the first time in her presence, a little while before meeting him at the 16th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1930.
Their relationship only became intimate in 1932. During the following seven years, Jeannette Vermeersch focused on Party missions; as an agent, she was zealous but a little withdrawn. For example, under the guidance of Jacques Duclos
, she organised an extraordinary congress of Communist Youth in 1933, retaking control of a movement suspected of drifting in an "avant-gardist" direction. She was also one of the pivotal members of a new organisation that the Party had asked to be formed, the Union of Young French Women. After the Spanish Civil War
began in 1936, she also focused very clearly on getting together a network of people in solidarity with the Second Spanish Republic
, in addition to her other responsibilities. She headed the operation that sent food and various materials to the Republicans and organised the welcome of political refugees on French soil by the Communist networks present in small French towns.
On 2 October 1939, shortly after the World War II
began, she accompanied Mounette Dutilleul, who had come to Chauny
to bring Maurice Thorez orders to desert, issued by the Third International
. Escorted by Alphonse Pelayo, they left together toward the Nord , but crossed the Belgian border separately. Jeannette Vermeersch and her two young sons joined Maurice Thorez in Moscow. They remained in the USSR until November 1944. Jeannette gave birth to a third son in a clinic near Moscow.
In 1945, after her return to France, Jeannette Vermeersch was elected a deputy to the constituent assembly that met from 21 October 1945 to 5 May 1946, until the first proposal for a new French constitution was rejected by referendum. She was then elected, without interruption, to every sitting of the National Assembly
until 1958, then moving up to the Senate
, where she sat until 1968.
On 17 September 1947, Maurice Thorez and Jeannette Vermeersch made their union official at the city hall of Choisy-le-Roi
(today in Val-de-Marne
département). In 1950, when Maurice Thorez was stricken with hemiplegia
and left to seek treatment in the USSR, Jeannette Vermeersch entered the Politburo of the French Communist Party
, of which she was a member until 1968.
In 1956, Jeannette Vermeersch, speaking as vice president of the Union of French Women, took a stance against birth control
: "Birth control, voluntary motherhood, is a bait for the great masses, but it is a weapon in the hands of the bourgeoisie against social laws". This position went against that of numerous activists, notably in the medical field. Thorez took Jeannette's side in condemning neo-Malthusian
conjectures.
After Thorez died in 1964, she was often very critical of the new direction taken by general secretary Waldeck Rochet
, and decided to resign from the Politburo in 1968 after Rochet expressed disapproval for the intervention of Warsaw Pact
troops in Czechoslovakia
to put an end to the Prague Spring
. On the same occasion she ended her political career, nevertheless remaining an activist of the base, renewing her Communist Party membership until her death.
After her death and cremation, her ashes were transferred to Paris
, to the Père Lachaise Cemetery
, into the tomb of Maurice Thorez.
On the occasion of her death, the heads of the party, Robert Hue
(party president) and Marie-George Buffet
(national secretary and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports) underlined that, although they disagreed with the deceased on a number of points, they still saluted the unflappability of her convictions and the permanence of her involvement.
After 1950, Jeannette Vermeersch also used the name Jeannette Thorez-Vermeersch, but she is usually known by her historical pseudonym, notably within the Communist Party. She never used the name Jeannette Thorez.
She died in Callian
, Var
.
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...
politician.
She is principally known for having been the companion (1932–1947) and then the wife (1947–1964) of Maurice Thorez
Maurice Thorez
thumb|A Soviet stamp depicting Maurice Thorez.Maurice Thorez was a French politician and longtime leader of the French Communist Party from 1930 until his death. He also served as vice premier of France from 1946 to 1947....
, general secretary of the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
(PCF), with whom she had three children, born before their union was made official.
Biography
Born in La MadeleineLa Madeleine, Nord
La Madeleine is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It is a suburb of the city of Lille, bordering it on its north side.-Heraldry:-References:* -External links:*...
, Nord as the seventh of nine children in a family of workers, Jeannette Vermeersch joined the workforce at the age of ten, despite the fact that at the time, children under the age of 13 were legally prohibited from working. Her first job was as a servant at a wine merchant's, then in a bourgeois family, before she entered a textile factory as a worker in 1921, all the while continuing to do chores after her hours of work at the factory.
She began activity as a union activist
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
in 1927. Through connections she formed in the union, she came to discover communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, whose growth as a movement was then in full swing in France, several years after the Tours Congress
Tours Congress
The Tours Congress was the 18th National Congress of the French Section of the Workers' International, or SFIO, which took place in Tours on 25—30 December 1920...
, and she founded a section of Young Communists. Her communist activity led her, in 1929, to be designated to take part in a delegation of textile workers who travelled to explore the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. While her comrades returned to France, Jeannette Vermeersch chose to prolong her stay, remaining in Moscow for several months and working "for the cause". It is on this occasion that she would have heard the name of Maurice Thorez
Maurice Thorez
thumb|A Soviet stamp depicting Maurice Thorez.Maurice Thorez was a French politician and longtime leader of the French Communist Party from 1930 until his death. He also served as vice premier of France from 1946 to 1947....
spoken for the first time in her presence, a little while before meeting him at the 16th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1930.
Their relationship only became intimate in 1932. During the following seven years, Jeannette Vermeersch focused on Party missions; as an agent, she was zealous but a little withdrawn. For example, under the guidance of Jacques Duclos
Jacques Duclos
Jacques Duclos was a French Communist politician who played a key role in French politics from 1926, when he entered the French National Assembly after defeating Paul Reynaud, until 1969, when he won a substantial portion of the vote in the presidential elections.During World War I, Duclos fought...
, she organised an extraordinary congress of Communist Youth in 1933, retaking control of a movement suspected of drifting in an "avant-gardist" direction. She was also one of the pivotal members of a new organisation that the Party had asked to be formed, the Union of Young French Women. After the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
began in 1936, she also focused very clearly on getting together a network of people in solidarity with the Second Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
, in addition to her other responsibilities. She headed the operation that sent food and various materials to the Republicans and organised the welcome of political refugees on French soil by the Communist networks present in small French towns.
On 2 October 1939, shortly after the 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...
began, she accompanied Mounette Dutilleul, who had come to Chauny
Chauny
Chauny is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-Geography:Built on the banks of the Oise and the Saint-Quentin canal, the town still retains its port to this day...
to bring Maurice Thorez orders to desert, issued by the Third International
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
. Escorted by Alphonse Pelayo, they left together toward the Nord , but crossed the Belgian border separately. Jeannette Vermeersch and her two young sons joined Maurice Thorez in Moscow. They remained in the USSR until November 1944. Jeannette gave birth to a third son in a clinic near Moscow.
In 1945, after her return to France, Jeannette Vermeersch was elected a deputy to the constituent assembly that met from 21 October 1945 to 5 May 1946, until the first proposal for a new French constitution was rejected by referendum. She was then elected, without interruption, to every sitting of the National Assembly
French National Assembly
The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....
until 1958, then moving up to the Senate
French Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president.The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and generally enjoy less media coverage.-History:France's first...
, where she sat until 1968.
On 17 September 1947, Maurice Thorez and Jeannette Vermeersch made their union official at the city hall of Choisy-le-Roi
Choisy-le-Roi
Choisy-le-Roi is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-Geography:Crossed by the Seine river, it is located from the center of Paris....
(today in Val-de-Marne
Val-de-Marne
Val-de-Marne is a French department, named after the Marne River, located in the Île-de-France region. The department is situated to the southeast of the city of Paris.- Geography :...
département). In 1950, when Maurice Thorez was stricken with hemiplegia
Hemiplegia
Hemiplegia /he.mə.pliː.dʒiə/ is total paralysis of the arm, leg, and trunk on the same side of the body. Hemiplegia is more severe than hemiparesis, wherein one half of the body has less marked weakness....
and left to seek treatment in the USSR, Jeannette Vermeersch entered the Politburo of the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
, of which she was a member until 1968.
In 1956, Jeannette Vermeersch, speaking as vice president of the Union of French Women, took a stance against birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
: "Birth control, voluntary motherhood, is a bait for the great masses, but it is a weapon in the hands of the bourgeoisie against social laws". This position went against that of numerous activists, notably in the medical field. Thorez took Jeannette's side in condemning neo-Malthusian
Thomas Malthus
The Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus FRS was an English scholar, influential in political economy and demography. Malthus popularized the economic theory of rent....
conjectures.
After Thorez died in 1964, she was often very critical of the new direction taken by general secretary Waldeck Rochet
Waldeck Rochet
Waldeck Rochet was a French communist politician.-Early life and career:...
, and decided to resign from the Politburo in 1968 after Rochet expressed disapproval for the intervention of Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
troops in 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...
to put an end to the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
. On the same occasion she ended her political career, nevertheless remaining an activist of the base, renewing her Communist Party membership until her death.
After her death and cremation, her ashes were transferred to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, to the Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...
, into the tomb of Maurice Thorez.
On the occasion of her death, the heads of the party, Robert Hue
Robert Hue
Robert Hue, in full Robert Georges Auguste Hue , is a French politician who was National Secretary of the French Communist Party from 1994 to 2001 and President of the PCF from 2001 to 2002...
(party president) and Marie-George Buffet
Marie-George Buffet
Marie-George Buffet is a French politician. She was the head of the French Communist Party from 2001 to 2010. She joined the Party in 1969, and was the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports from June 4, 1997 to May 5, 2002. Ms...
(national secretary and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports) underlined that, although they disagreed with the deceased on a number of points, they still saluted the unflappability of her convictions and the permanence of her involvement.
After 1950, Jeannette Vermeersch also used the name Jeannette Thorez-Vermeersch, but she is usually known by her historical pseudonym, notably within the Communist Party. She never used the name Jeannette Thorez.
She died in Callian
Callian, Var
Callian is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Var department*-References:*...
, Var
Var (département)
The Var is a French department in the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in Provence, in southeast France. It takes its name from the river Var, which used to flow along its eastern boundary, but the boundary was moved in 1860...
.
Union and party functions
- 1930–1931: member of the secretariat of Young Communists of the Nord
- 1931–1932: member of the national committee of young union members of the Unitary General Confederation of Labour
- 1932–1934: member of the national bureau of Young Communists
- 1934–1935: co-director of the Union of Young French Women
- 1945–1974: vice president of the Union of French Women
- 1950–1968: member of the Politburo of the French Communist Party
Elected political positions
- 1945–1946: deputy for SeineSeine (département)Seine was a département of France encompassing Paris and its immediate suburbs. Its préfecture was Paris and its official number was 75. The Seine département was abolished in 1968 and its territory divided among four new départements....
(first constituent assembly) - 1946–1947: deputy for Seine (second constituent assembly)
- 1947–1951: deputy for Seine
- 1951–1956: deputy for Seine
- 1956–1958: deputy for Seine
- 1959–1964: senator for Seine
- 1964–1968: senator for Val-de-MarneVal-de-MarneVal-de-Marne is a French department, named after the Marne River, located in the Île-de-France region. The department is situated to the southeast of the city of Paris.- Geography :...
Works
- Jeannette Thorez-Vermeersch, Vers quels lendemains ? : de l'internationalisme à l'eurocommunisme (Toward What Futures? From Internationalism to Eurocommunism), Hachette, « Hachette-Essais » collection, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 1979. 204 p. ISBN 2-01-006694-4. - Jeannette Thorez-Vermeersch, la Vie en rouge : mémoires (My Life in Red: Memoirs), Belfond, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, February 1998. 242 p. ISBN 2-7144-3515-7.