Marthe Simard

Marthe Simard (April 6, 1901 - March 28, 1993) was a Franco-Canadian politician and the first French woman to serve in a parliamentary assembly. In December 1940, she established the Free France Committee of Quebec. Simard was a recipient of the Legion of Honor, as well as the Resistance Medal and the Commemorative Medal for Volunteer Services in Free France.

Marthe Simard in 1944

Quotes

• "We have certainly experienced dark, nearly hopeless times," wrote another member of the external resistance, Georges Bernanos, in November 1943, "but there is more than one kind of despair—there are exhilarating despairs that act as a tonic for the soul." Marthe Simard could easily have embraced these words".
  • Marthe Simard speech

• The fall of Paris to the Allies was imminent, just a matter of hours away.
  • Marthe Simard declared after she back to Dorval

External Links

Biography