Fitting in to the French Resistance: Marie-Madeleine Fourcade and Georges Loustaunau-Lacau at the Intersection of Politics and Gender

Abstract

This article explores the political and gendered representations of Georges Loustaunau-Lacau and Marie-Madeleine Méric (later Fourcade), leaders of a French Resistance network during the Second World War. Both leaders came from the extreme-right and their commitment to the Resistance was questioned both during and after the war by critics who could not reconcile their rightist politics with the nature of resistance to the German occupation. Méric’s role as a female Resistance leader, moreover, was also highlighted in wartime reports and not always positively. In the postwar period, the representations of both resisters changed alongside the changing narrative about the French Resistance more generally. Loustaunau-Lacau continued to be a target for politically motivated accusations that questioned his Resistance record right up until his death, as he did not fit into the dominant Gaullist narrative. While Méric’s political capital improved, thanks to her conversion to Gaullism, she gets nudged out of many histories because of the exceptional nature of her role in the Resistance as a woman. This article suggests ways in which we might further explore the topic of Resistance, particularly when it was undertaken by people who have not fit comfortably in the existing narratives.