20th-century French women writers

Muriel_Cerf

Muriel Cerf (4 June 1950 – 19 May 2012) was a French novelist and travel writer.Her first book, L'Antivoyage, was inspired by her travels in Southeast Asia, and was a major critical success. She was awarded the Prix Littéraire Valery Larbaud in 1975 for Le Diable vert.

Corinne_Luchaire

Corinne Luchaire (11 February 1921 – 22 January 1950) was a French film actress who was a star of French cinema on the eve of World War II. Her association with the German occupation led her to be sentenced to "national indignity" after the war, and after writing an autobiography, she died from tuberculosis at age 28.

Sophie_Fillières

Sophie Fillières (20 November 1964 – 31 July 2023) was a French film director and screenwriter who wrote for more than fifteen film and television productions from 1991 on.Fillières died on 31 July 2023, at the age of 58.

Valérie_André

Valérie André (French pronunciation: [valeʁi ɑ̃dʁe] ; born 21 April 1922) is a veteran of the French Resistance, a neurosurgeon, an aviator and the first female member of the military to achieve the rank of General Officer, in 1976, as Physician General. In 1981, she was promoted to Inspector General of Medicine. A helicopter pilot, she is the first woman to have piloted a helicopter in a combat zone. She is also a founding member of the Académie de l'air et de l'espace.As a member of the military, she is not addressed as "Madame la Générale" (a term reserved for spouses of generals) but as "General".She started as a Medical Captain in Indochina in 1948, already a qualified parachutist and pilot, in addition to being an army surgeon. While in Indochina, she realized that the most difficult part of her duties was retrieving the wounded, who were often trapped in the jungle. She returned to France to learn how to pilot a helicopter, then flew one to Indochina. From 1952–1953, she piloted 129 helicopter missions into the jungle, rescuing 165 soldiers, and on two occasions completed parachute jumps to treat wounded soldiers who needed immediate surgery.One typical mission occurred on 11 December 1951, when casualties were in urgent need of evacuation from Tu Vu on the Black River. The only available helicopter, stationed near Saigon, was dismantled, flown to Hanoi by a Bristol Freighter and reassembled. Captain André then flew into Tu Vu despite heavy mist and anti-aircraft fire. There, she triaged the casualties, operated on the most pressing cases and then flew the urgent wounded back to Hanoi, two at a time. Later, she was put in command of a casualty evacuation flight.
She continued in Algeria as a Medical Commander in 1960, where she completed 365 war missions. She rose to the rank of Medical Lieutenant Colonel in 1965 then to Medical Colonel in 1970. She had a total of 3200 flight hours, and received 7 citations of the Croix de Guerre.
She has written two collections of memoirs : Ici, Ventilateur! Extraits d'un carnet de vol. (Calmann-Lévy, 1954) and Madame le général (Perrin, 1988).
She is one of eight women to hold the Grand-croix (Great Cross) rank in the Legion of Honour, with Germaine Tillion, Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz, Jacqueline de Romilly, Simone Rozès, Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, Yvette Farnoux and Gilberte Champion.
She is the aunt of politician André Santini.
She turned 100 on 21 April 2022.

Françoise_Parturier

Françoise Parturier (1919 – 12 August 1995) was a French writer and journalist. She was the first "symbolic" female candidate for the Académie française in 1970.The daughter of a medical doctor, she was born in Paris and studied at the University of Paris. In 1947, she married Jean Gatichon. She began a career in journalism after World War II. From 1950 to 1951, Parturier taught contemporary literature in the United States. She was a regular contributor to Le Figaro from 1956 to 1975. Parturier wrote three books in partnership with Josette Raoul-Duval under the nom de plume "Nicole". In 1959, she began writing under her own name.Parturier died at Neuilly at the age of 75.

Regine_Pernoud

Régine Pernoud (17 June 1909, Château-Chinon, Nièvre – 22 April 1998, Paris) was a French historian and archivist. Pernoud was one of the most prolific medievalists in 20th century France; more than any other single scholar of her time, her work advanced and expanded the study of Joan of Arc.