Marguerite Jauzelon
{{Short description|French teacher and volunteer paramedic (1917–2023)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Marguerite Jauzelon
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Marguerite Thérèse Jauzelon
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1917|07|25}}
| birth_place = {{ill|Ravine Creuse|fr}}, Saint-André, Réunion, France
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2023|02|10|1917|07|25}}
| death_place =
| nationality = French
| other_names =
| occupation = Teacher
Paramedic
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| education = Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny
}}
Marguerite Thérèse Jauzelon (25 July 1917 – 10 February 2023) was a French teacher and volunteer paramedic during World War II.{{cite news |last=Latchimy|first=Céline|date=10 February 2023|title=La résistante réunionnaise Marguerite Jauzelon n’est plus|trans-title= |url=https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/reunion/la-resistante-reunionnaise-marguerite-jauzelon-n-est-plus-1365418.html|language=French|work=La Première|location= |access-date=11 February 2023}}
Biography
Born in Saint-André, Réunion on 25 July 1917, Jauzelon was the daughter of engineer Raymond Jauzelon. She was the fourth of six children. She grew up in Saint-André and was educated with the nuns of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny. In 1930, her father was appointed deputy director of the Agence des sucreries coloniales to Réunion's capital, Saint-Denis. She continued her education at the École de Joinville before returning to Saint-André in 1936. Her father died in April 1943.
Jauzelon joined the French Liberation Army in North Africa in November 1943. Initially assigned to work as a secretary, she asserted herself into a role of an ambulance driver, having learned how to drive at the age of 14.{{cite news |last= |first= |date=1 October 2017|title=La leçon de courage d'une infirmière de guerre|trans-title= |url=https://www.clicanoo.re/Societe/Article/2017/10/01/La-lecon-de-courage-dune-infirmiere-de-guerre_493023|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227134438/https://www.clicanoo.re/Societe/Article/2017/10/01/La-lecon-de-courage-dune-infirmiere-de-guerre_493023|archivedate=27 February 2021|language=French|work=Clicanoo|location= |access-date=11 February 2023}} In Oran, she was assigned to the 431st Colonial Medical Battalion in the 3rd Pickup Company, made up of 24 Malagasy and Réunionese paramedics. She was issued a Dodge ambulance as head driver and Fochette Duchesne as her teammate. They named the vehicle Hirondelle and headed for Ajaccio on 29 July 1944. The landing in Provence took place on 15 August 1944 and she disembarked at Cavalaire-sur-Mer. She then headed to Toulon, where she evacuated wounded Germans from {{ill|Canon l'Inconnu|fr|Fort royal de l'île Sainte-Marguerite}}.
Throughout the next several months, Jauzelon followed the advances of the Allied front lines, such as the Battle of the Vosges and the Battle of Colmar. In May 1945, at the German Instrument of Surrender, she was near Tübingen.{{cite news |last= |first= |date=11 June 2014|title=JAUZELON MARGUERITE|trans-title= |url=https://www.reunionnaisdumonde.com/magazine/1001-celebrites/jauzelon-marguerite/|language=French|work=Réunionnais du monde|location= |access-date=11 February 2023}} The paramedics were demobilized in November 1945.
In 1946, Jauzelon returned to Réunion and resumed her work as a teacher. She was not recognized for her service in the war until 2002, when she was awarded a Knight of the Legion of Honour by a member of the French Resistance from Réunion, {{ill|Jean Joly (resistant)|fr|Jean Joly (résistant)|lt=Jean Joly}}.{{cite book |last=Jauzelon|first=Marguerite|last2=Monnier|first2=Jehanne-Emmanuelle|date=2009|title=De la Réunion à l'Allemagne, 1939-1945 : le périple d'une ambulancière et d'un résistant|trans-title= |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/560009682|language=French|location=Saint-Clotilde|publisher=Surya|isbn=978-2-9531989-8-0}} She then gave testimony in schools and emphasized the values of courage, humanity, and fraternity.{{cite news |last=Moutiama|first=Céline|date=26 May 2018|title=La mémoire de la résistance transmise aux jeunes générations|trans-title= |url=https://www.clicanoo.re/Societe/Article/2018/05/26/La-memoire-de-la-resistance-transmise-aux-jeunes-generations_531962|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.clicanoo.re%2FSociete%2FArticle%2F2018%2F05%2F26%2FLa-memoire-de-la-resistance-transmise-aux-jeunes-generations_531962#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url|archivedate=30 May 2018|language=French|work=Clicanoo|location= |access-date=11 February 2023}} She reached the age of 100 in 2017 and was paid an official tribute.{{cite news |last= |first= |date=25 July 2017|title=100e anniversaire d’une Réunionnaise résistante|trans-title= |url=https://www.linfo.re/la-reunion/societe/723152-100e-anniversaire-d-une-reunionnaise-resistante|language=French|work=Antenne Réunion|location= |access-date=11 February 2023}}
Jauzelon died on 10 February 2023, at the age of 105.{{cite news |last= |first= |date=10 February 2023|title=La résistante réunionnaise Marguerite Jauzelon s'est éteinte à l'âge de 106 ans|trans-title= |url=https://www.clicanoo.re/article/societe/2023/02/10/la-resistante-reunionnaise-marguerite-jauzelon-sest-eteinte-a-lage-de-106-ans|language=French|work=Clicanoo|location= |access-date=11 February 2023}}
Decorations
- Knight of the Legion of Honour (2012){{cite web|url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000025641749|title=Décret du 6 avril 2012 portant promotion et nomination|date=7 April 2012|work=Légifrance|language=French}}
- Officer of the Ordre des Palmes académiques
- Volunteer combatant's cross
- Combatant's Cross
- 1939–1945 Commemorative war medal
Tributes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jauzelon, Marguerite}}
Category:French schoolteachers
Category:20th-century French educators
Category:20th-century women educators
Category:French women in World War II
Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour