Two Jewish teenagers, Daniel and Simone Lisopravski, found sanctuary in a Dinan home after Anne Beaumanoir intercepted a Gestapo raid in Paris during June 1944. This act of intervention, performed while she was a medical student and member of the French Communist Party, eventually led to her recognition as Righteous Among the Nations decades later.
Wartime Resistance in Brittany
Born in Guildo on 30 October 1923 to restaurateurs Jean and Marthe Beaumanoir, she became active in the French Resistance while pursuing medical studies. Her parents facilitated the concealment of the two Lisopravski siblings for one year at their residence. Despite interrogation by police regarding his suspected resistance ties, Jean Beaumanoir maintained the family's clandestine efforts until the conflict concluded.
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After the war, Beaumanoir relocated to Marseille to continue medical training and eventually became a professor of neurology. She left the French Communist Party in 1955. Following her involvement with worker-priests and subsequent support for the FLN during the Algerian War, she was arrested in November 1959. She served eight months in Baumettes Prison before obtaining provisional release to give birth.
Medical Career and Exile
Following her escape to Tunisia, she practiced as a neuropsychiatrist under Frantz Fanon. After the Évian Accords, she accepted a position under Minister of Health Ahmed Ben Bella. Following his 1965 overthrow, she moved to Switzerland, where she directed the neurophysiology department at the University Hospital of Geneva. Her life later became the subject of the 2016 documentary Une vie d'Annette and the 2020 prize-winning epic poem Annette, ein Heldinnenepos.
Fast facts
- Born: 30 October 1923, Guildo, France
- Died: 4 March 2022, Quimper, France
- Occupations: Physician, neurologist, neurophysiologist
- Recognition: Righteous Among the Nations (1996)
- Political membership: Mouvement Jeunes Communistes de France
Questions readers ask
Why was Anne Beaumanoir imprisoned?
She was arrested in 1959 for supporting the FLN during the Algerian War and sentenced to ten years in prison.
What specific medical contribution is she noted for?
She served as a neurophysiologist and later became the director of the neurophysiology department at the University Hospital of Geneva.
Achievements
- Righteous Among the Nations — 1996
- Worked as physician, French resistance fighter and activist
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