Born: 23 August 1924, France
Died: 7 November 2024
Country most active: France, International
Also known as: Rainer
The following is republished from the Library of Congress. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Women in the French Resistance: Madeleine Riffaud was a French journalist and poet, born in Arvillers in 1924. She first began to work for the French Forces of the Interior under codename “Rainer” (reflecting her admiration for poet Rainer Maria Rilke) at just 18 years old. She contributed to the capture of eighty Wehrmacht soldiers from a German supply train, and shot a German officer to death in broad daylight in 1944. She also served as a war correspondent in Algeria and Southeast Asia. After being captured by the Gestapo, Riffaud was transferred to the Fresnes prison where she was tortured and set to be executed, but escaped death via release in a prisoner exchange. She died on November 7, 2024 at the age of 100. A sketch of Madeleine Riffaud by Pablo Picasso in 1945 was included in a publication of her poems.