Gisèle Halimi
Gisèle Halimi (born Zeiza Gisèle Élise Taïeb; 27 July 1927 – 28 July 2020) was a Tunisian-French lawyer, politician, essayist and feminist activist.[1]
Gisèle Halimi | |
|---|---|
 Halimi in 2009 | |
| Permanent Representative of France to UNESCO | |
| In office 13 April 1985 – 1 September 1986 | |
| President | François Mitterrand |
| Preceded by | Jacqueline Baudrier |
| Succeeded by | Marie-Claude Cabana |
| Member of the National Assembly for Isère's 4th constituency | |
| In office 21 June 1981 – 9 September 1984 | |
| Preceded by | Jacques-Antoine Gau |
| Succeeded by | Maurice Rival |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Zeiza Gisèle Élise Taïeb 27 July 1927 La Goulette, Tunis, Tunisia |
| Died | 28 July 2020 (aged 93) 7th arrondissement of Paris, France |
| Nationality | Tunisian French |
| Spouse(s) | Paul Halimi (divorced) Claude Faux |
| Children | 3 (including Serge Halimi) |
| Alma mater | University of Paris Sciences Po |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Biography
Zeiza Gisèle Élise Taïeb was born in La Goulette, Tunisia, on 27 July 1927 to a modest, practicing Jewish Berber family (to Édouard and Fortunée "Fritna" Taïeb). She was educated at a French lycée in Tunis, and then attended the University of Paris, graduating in law and philosophy. Her childhood and the ways in which she blends a Jewish-Muslim identity are discussed in her memoir, Le lait de l'oranger. She was first married to Paul Halimi and then to Claude Faux.[2] She died the day after her 93rd birthday, on 28 July 2020.[3]
Career
In 1948, Halimi qualified as a lawyer and, after eight years at the Tunis bar,[4] moved to practise at the Paris bar in 1956.[4] She acted as a counsel for the Algerian National Liberation Front, most notably for the activist Djamila Boupacha in 1960, who had been raped and tortured by French soldiers,[4] and wrote a book in 1961 (with an introduction by Simone de Beauvoir) to plead her case.[4] She also defended Basque individuals accused of crimes committed during the conflict in Basque Country, and was counsel in many cases related to women's issues,[4] such as the 1972 Bobigny abortion trial (of a 17-year-old accused of procuring an abortion after having been raped),[4] which attracted national attention.
In 1967, she chaired the Russell Tribunal, which was initiated by Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre to investigate and evaluate American military action in Vietnam.
In 1971, she founded the feminist group Choisir (transl. To Choose)[5] to protect the women who had signed the Manifesto of the 343 admitting to having illegal abortions, of which she was one.[4][6]
In 1972, Choisir formed itself into a clearly reformist body, and the campaign greatly influenced the passing of the law allowing contraception and abortion carried through by Simone Veil in 1974.
In 1981, she was elected to the French National Assembly,[4] as an independent Socialist, and was Deputy for Isère until 1984. Between 1985 and 1987 she was a French legate to UNESCO.[7]
Works
| Title | English translation | Time of first publication | First edition publisher/publication | Unique identifier | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Djamila Boupacha | 1962 | Gallimard | ISBN 978-2070205240 | ||
| Le procès de Burgos | The Burgos Trials | 1971 | ISBN 978-2070279487 | ||
| La cause des femmes | The Cause of Women | 1973 | ISBN 2-246-00028-9 | ||
| Avortement, une loi en procès | Abortion, a Law on Trial | 1973 | ISBN 2-246-00028-9 | ||
| The Right to Choose | 1977 | ISBN 0-7022-1433-7 | |||
| Viol, Le procès d'Aix: Choisir la cause des femmes | Rape, the Aix Trial: Choosing the Cause of Women | 1978 | ISBN 978-2070353989 | ||
| Le Programme commun des femmes | The Common Women's Program | 1978 | ISBN 2-246-00572-8 | ||
| le Lait de l'Oranger | Milk for the Orange Tree | 1988 | ISBN 0-7043-2738-4 | ||
| Une embellie perdue | A Lost Beauty | 1995 | ISBN 2-07-073788-8 | ||
| La nouvelle cause des femmes | The New Cause of Women | 1997 | ISBN 2-02-031973-X | ||
| Fritna | 1999 | ISBN 2-259-19134-7 | |||
| La parité dans la vie politique | Parity in Political Life | 1999 | ISBN 2-11-004376-8 | ||
| Avocate irrespectueuse | Disrespectful Counsel | 2002 | ISBN 2-259-19453-2 | ||
| Le procès de Bobigny: Choisir la cause des femmes | The Bobigny Trial: Choosing the Cause of Women | 2006 | ISBN 2-07-077515-1 | Preface by Simone de Beauvoir | |
| La Kahina | 2006 | ISBN 2-259-20314-0 | |||
| Ne vous résignez jamais | Never Resign Yourself | 2009 | ISBN 978-2-259-20941-0 | ||
| Histoire d'une passion | History of a Passion | 2011 | Plon | ISBN 2-259-21394-4 | |
Footnotes
- Lawrence D. Kritzman; Brian J. Reilly; Malcolm DeBevoise (September 2007). The Columbia History of Twentieth-Century French Thought. Columbia University Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-231-10790-7. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
- "Gisèle Halimi - Sa bio et toute son actualité". www.elle.fr (in French). Retrieved 28 July 2020.
- "L'avocate Gisèle Halimi, défenseuse passionnée de la cause des femmes, est morte". Le Monde (in French). 28 July 2020.
- "Une vie : Gisèle Halimi". Brut (in French). 28 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
- Raylene L. Ramsay (2003). French women in politics: writing power, paternal legitimization, and maternal legacies. Berghahn Books. pp. 135–139. ISBN 978-1-57181-081-6. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
- Le manifeste des 343 Archived 23 April 2001 at the Wayback Machine
- "France". UNESCO. 17 October 2007. Archived from the original on 19 October 2003. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- "ATTAC founding members" (in French). Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
References
- An unlikely alliance. The Guardian, 12 August 2003. Accessed 2011-01-15.
Further reading
- General Paul Aussaresses, The Battle of the Casbah: Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Algeria, 1955-1957. (New York: Enigma Books, 2010) ISBN 9781929631308.
- Natalie Edwards, The Autobiographies of Julia Kristeva, Gisèle Halimi, Assia Djebar and Hélène Cixous : beyond "I" versus "we". (Chicago: Northwestern University, 2005) ISBN 0542173042.
