Gisèle Halimi

{{Short description|Tunisian-French lawyer and politician (1927–2020)}}

{{infobox officeholder

| name = Gisèle Halimi

| image = Gisele Halimi Front de Gauche 2009-03-08.jpg

| caption = Halimi in 2009

| office = Permanent Representative of France {{nowrap|to UNESCO}}

| term_start = 13 April 1985

| term_end = 1 September 1986

| president = François Mitterrand

| predecessor = Jacqueline Baudrier

| successor = Marie-Claude Cabana

| office1 = Member of the National Assembly
for Isère's 4th constituency

| term_start1 = 21 June 1981

| term_end1 = 9 September 1984

| predecessor1 = Jacques-Antoine Gaur

| successor1 = Maurice Rival

| birth_name = Zeiza Gisèle Élise Taïeb

| birth_date = {{birth date|1927|07|27|df=yes}}

| birth_place = La Goulette, Tunis, Tunisia

| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|07|28|1927|07|28|df=yes}}

| death_place = 7th arrondissement of Paris, France

| nationality = Tunisian
French

| alma_mater = University of Paris
Sciences Po

| spouse = Paul Halimi (divorced)
Claude Faux

| children = 3 (including Serge Halimi)

| profession = Lawyer

| signature = Signature de Gisèle Halimi.png

}}

Gisèle Halimi (born Zeiza Gisèle Élise Taïeb, {{langx|ar|زايزا جيزيل إليز طيب}}; 27 July 1927 – 28 July 2020) was a Tunisian-French lawyer, politician, essayist and feminist activist.{{cite book|author1=Lawrence D. Kritzman|author2=Brian J. Reilly|author3=Malcolm DeBevoise|title=The Columbia History of Twentieth-Century French Thought|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bREQibN9i-sC&pg=PA42|access-date=15 January 2011|date=September 2007|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-10790-7|page=42}}

Biography

Zeiza Gisèle Élise Taïeb was born in La Goulette, Tunisia, on 27 July 1927 to a practicing Jewish Berber family. Her father, Edouard Taïeb, began as a courier in a law office before becoming a notary clerk and then a legal expert. He was naturalized as a French citizen in 1928.{{cite web|url=https://www.rfgenealogie.com/infos/de-tunis-a-paris-la-genealogie-de-gisele-halimi|title=De Tunis à Paris : la généalogie de Gisèle Halimi|website=rfgenealogie.com|language=fr|access-date=21 August 2024}} Her mother, Fortunée "Fritna" Mettoudi, conformed to society's expectations of traditional womanhood, which Halimi cited as the reason for her own early feminist engagement.{{cite web|url=https://maitron.fr/spip.php?article76597|title=HALIMI Gisèle [née ZEIZA Gisèle, Élise, Taïeb]|website=maitron.fr|date=5 April 2023 |language=fr|access-date=21 August 2024}}

When Gisèle was born, her parents hid her birth for three weeks because at that time giving birth to a daughter was perceived as a curse.{{cite web|url=https://mairie7.lyon.fr/actualite/commemoration/gisele-halimi#:~:text=Zeiza%20Gisèle%20Élise%20Taïeb%20est,sa%20naissance%20durant%203%20semaines.|title=Gisèle Halimi|website=mairie7.lyon.fr|language=fr|access-date=21 August 2024|date=7 March 2022}} At 12 years old, she refused to wait on her brothers and went on a hunger strike to protest the gender roles enforced by her family. At 15, she refused to marry a rich oil merchant much older than herself.{{cite web|url=https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/gisele-halimi-a-12-ans-j-ai-fait-une-greve-de-la-faim-parce-que-les-filles-servaient-les-garcons-3139431|title=Gisèle Halimi : "À 12 ans, j'ai fait une grève de la faim parce que les filles servaient les garçons"|website=radiofrance.fr|language=fr|access-date=21 August 2024|date=28 July 2020}}

She was educated at a French lycée in Tunis, then attended the University of Paris, graduating in law and philosophy. She had three sons: Serge, a journalist, and Jean-Yves, a lawyer, from her first marriage to Paul Halimi, and Emmanuel Faux, a journalist, from her second marriage to Claude Faux.{{cite web|url=https://www.elle.fr/Personnalites/Gisele-Halimi|title=Gisèle Halimi - Sa bio et toute son actualité|website=www.elle.fr|language=fr|access-date=28 July 2020}}

She died the day following her 93rd birthday, on July 28, 2020.{{cite news |title=L'avocate Gisèle Halimi, défenseuse passionnée de la cause des femmes, est morte |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2020/07/28/l-avocate-gisele-halimi-defenseuse-passionnee-de-la-cause-des-femmes-est-morte_6047506_3382.html |work=Le Monde|date=28 July 2020 |language=fr}}

Career

In 1948, Halimi qualified as a lawyer and, after eight years at the Tunis bar,{{cite news |url=https://www.brut.media/fr/entertainment/une-vie-gisele-halimi-3ad2f8bc-f3e3-48e2-b6aa-978047445665 |title=Une vie : Gisèle Halimi |work=Brut |date=2020-07-28 |access-date=2020-07-28 |language=fr }} moved to practise at the Paris bar in 1956. She acted as a counsel for the Algerian National Liberation Front, most notably for the activist Djamila Boupacha, who had been raped and tortured by French soldiers, writing a book in 1961 (with an introduction by Simone de Beauvoir) to plead her case. She also defended Basque individuals accused of crimes committed during the conflict in Basque Country. Halimi served as counsel in many cases related to women's issues, such as the 1972 Bobigny abortion trial (of a 17-year-old accused of procuring an illegal abortion after having been raped), which attracted national attention.

In 1971, she founded the feminist group Choisir (To Choose){{cite book|author=Raylene L. Ramsay|title=French women in politics: writing power, paternal legitimization, and maternal legacies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4wQe6IcBaMQC&pg=PA135|access-date=15 January 2011|year=2003|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-57181-081-6|pages=135–139}} to protect the women who had signed the Manifesto of the 343 admitting to having had illegal abortions, of whom she was one.[http://www.cidem.org/themes/egalite_hommes_femmes/ega_infos/eclairages/ega_k003.html Le manifeste des 343] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010423084113/http://www.cidem.org/themes/egalite_hommes_femmes/ega_infos/eclairages/ega_k003.html|date=23 April 2001}}

In 1981, Halimi was elected to the French National Assembly, as an independent Socialist and served as Deputy for Isère until 1984. Between 1985 and 1987, she was a French legate to UNESCO.{{cite web |url=http://erc.unesco.org/cp/cp.asp?country=FR&language=E |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031019090149/http://erc.unesco.org/cp/cp.asp?country=FR&language=E |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 October 2003 |title=France |publisher=UNESCO |date=17 October 2007 |access-date=15 January 2010}}

In 1998, she was a founding member of ATTAC.{{cite web |url=http://www.france.attac.org/le-coll-ge-des-fondateurs |title=ATTAC founding members |access-date=21 May 2012 |language=fr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110412031004/http://www.france.attac.org/le-coll-ge-des-fondateurs |archive-date=12 April 2011 |url-status=dead }}

Honors

Honorary member of the Order of Lawyers of Mexico in 1982.{{Cite web |title=HOMMAGE - Gisèle Halimi, de La Goulette au barreau parisien |url=https://lepetitjournal.com/tunis/actualites/hommage-gisele-halimi-de-la-goulette-au-barreau-parisien-53189 |website=le petit journal}}

Personality of the Year Award from the Grand Jury of International Distinction in 1983.

Minerva Award from the Club delle Donne, in the "Field of Politics and Social Engagement" section (Rome, October 1985).

Medal of the Paris Bar Association (April 2003).

Works

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="margin-right: 0;" ! scope="col" class="unsortable" \| Title ! scope="col" class="unsortable" \| English translation ! scope="col" \| Time of first publication ! scope="col" class="unsortable" \| First edition publisher/publication ! scope="col" class="unsortable" \| Unique identifier ! scope="col" class="unsortable" \| Notes
scope="row" \| Djamila Boupacha \| \| 1962 \| Gallimard \| {{ISBN\|978-2070205240}} \|
scope="row" \| Le procès de Burgos \| The Burgos Trials \| 1971 \| \| {{ISBN\|978-2070279487}} \|
scope="row" \| La cause des femmes \| The Cause of Women \| 1973 \| \| {{ISBN\|2-246-00028-9}} \|
scope="row" \| Avortement, une loi en procès \| Abortion, a Law on Trial \| 1973 \| \| {{ISBN\|2-246-00028-9}} \|
scope="row" \| The Right to Choose \| \| 1977 \| \| {{ISBN\|0-7022-1433-7}} \|
scope="row" \| Viol, Le procès d'Aix: Choisir la cause des femmes \| Rape, the Aix Trial: Choosing the Cause of Women \| 1978 \| \| {{ISBN\|978-2070353989}} \|
scope="row" \| Le Programme commun des femmes \| The Common Women's Program \| 1978 \| \| {{ISBN\|2-246-00572-8}} \|
scope="row" \| le Lait de l'Oranger \| Milk for the Orange Tree \| 1988 \| \| {{ISBN\|0-7043-2738-4}} \|
scope="row" \| Une embellie perdue \| A Lost Beauty \| 1995 \| \| {{ISBN\|2-07-073788-8}} \|
scope="row" \| La nouvelle cause des femmes \| The New Cause of Women \| 1997 \| \| {{ISBN\|2-02-031973-X}} \|
scope="row" \| Fritna \| \| 1999 \| \| {{ISBN\|2-259-19134-7}} \|
scope="row" \| La parité dans la vie politique \| Parity in Political Life \| 1999 \| \| {{ISBN\|2-11-004376-8}} \|
scope="row" \| Avocate irrespectueuse \| Disrespectful Counsel \| 2002 \| \| {{ISBN\|2-259-19453-2}} \|
scope="row" \| 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
scope="row" \| La Kahina \| \| 2006 \| \| {{ISBN\|2-259-20314-0}} \|
scope="row" \| Ne vous résignez jamais \| Never Resign Yourself \| 2009 \| \| {{ISBN\|978-2-259-20941-0}} \|
scope="row" \| Histoire d'une passion \| History of a Passion \| 2011 \| Plon \| {{ISBN\|2-259-21394-4}} \|

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="margin-right: 0;"

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Title

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | English translation

! scope="col" | Time of first publication

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | First edition publisher/publication

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Unique identifier

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes

scope="row" | Djamila Boupacha

|

| 1962

| Gallimard

| {{ISBN|978-2070205240}}

|

scope="row" | Le procès de Burgos

| The Burgos Trials

| 1971

|

| {{ISBN|978-2070279487}}

|

scope="row" | La cause des femmes

| The Cause of Women

| 1973

|

| {{ISBN|2-246-00028-9}}

|

scope="row" | Avortement, une loi en procès

| Abortion, a Law on Trial

| 1973

|

| {{ISBN|2-246-00028-9}}

|

scope="row" | The Right to Choose

|

| 1977

|

| {{ISBN|0-7022-1433-7}}

|

scope="row" | Viol, Le procès d'Aix: Choisir la cause des femmes

| Rape, the Aix Trial: Choosing the Cause of Women

| 1978

|

| {{ISBN|978-2070353989}}

|

scope="row" | Le Programme commun des femmes

| The Common Women's Program

| 1978

|

| {{ISBN|2-246-00572-8}}

|

scope="row" | le Lait de l'Oranger

| Milk for the Orange Tree

| 1988

|

| {{ISBN|0-7043-2738-4}}

|

scope="row" | Une embellie perdue

| A Lost Beauty

| 1995

|

| {{ISBN|2-07-073788-8}}

|

scope="row" | La nouvelle cause des femmes

| The New Cause of Women

| 1997

|

| {{ISBN|2-02-031973-X}}

|

scope="row" | Fritna

|

| 1999

|

| {{ISBN|2-259-19134-7}}

|

scope="row" | La parité dans la vie politique

| Parity in Political Life

| 1999

|

| {{ISBN|2-11-004376-8}}

|

scope="row" | Avocate irrespectueuse

| Disrespectful Counsel

| 2002

|

| {{ISBN|2-259-19453-2}}

|

scope="row" | 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

scope="row" | La Kahina

|

| 2006

|

| {{ISBN|2-259-20314-0}}

|

scope="row" | Ne vous résignez jamais

| Never Resign Yourself

| 2009

|

| {{ISBN|978-2-259-20941-0}}

|

scope="row" | Histoire d'une passion

| History of a Passion

| 2011

| Plon

| {{ISBN|2-259-21394-4}}

|

Footnotes

References

[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/aug/12/israel An unlikely alliance]. The Guardian, 12 August 2003. Accessed 2011-01-15.