Conference “L’honneur au féminin” byJean-Paul Bonami
Conference
Le 18 juin à 19:30
Writer Jean-Paul Bonami will give a conference based on his book “L’honneur au féminin”, which profiles some of the women involved in the Volontaires Françaises de la France Libre group, on Wednesday June 18, 2025 at 7:30pm, at the Airborne Museum. Free admission, reservations required.
Writer Jean-Paul Bonami will give a conference based on his book “L’honneur au féminin”, which profiles some of the women involved in the Volontaires Françaises de la France Libre group, on Wednesday June 18, 2025 at 7:30pm, at the Airborne Museum. Free admission, reservations required.
Jean-Paul Bonami was a student at the DCAB technical training center at DCAN’s (now Naval Group’s) Cherbourg Arsenal, before embarking on a socio-cultural career in the French Navy (running and directing hostels).
He then pursued his career as a writer and biographer, and has written a number of books, notably on Norman historical figures such as engineer Prosper Payerne, rear-admiral and empire baron Lhermitte, and entrepreneur and writer Alexandre Fontanes.
In 2000, he was elected a full member of the Société nationale académique de Cherbourg. The following year, he was named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
His latest book, L’honneur au féminin (2014, reprinted 2024), tells the story of some of the women who answered General de Gaulle’s call on June 18, 1940, to join the FFL Corps féminin. This later became the Corps des Volontaires françaises (CVF), which at its peak numbered almost 500. The creation of this organization gave women a military status for the first time in French history. It was prompted not only by necessity, but also by the fact that the other Allied countries – Great Britain, the United States and Russia – had their own women’s corps (e.g. the WAAF and WNRS across the Channel).
The author’s portraits include Tourlavillaise Jeanne Bohec, hired as a chemical engineer in London; Pierra Kropotkine, granddaughter of an exiled Russian prince; tennis champion Simone Mathieu; and singer-turned-spy Josephine Baker. A book that highlights the exceptional strength of character of these women, who evolved in a very male-dominated world and made a real difference in their own small way, in the organization of the external resistance in England.
Jean-Paul Bonami’s talk at the museum is based on this book.
Bookings:
- communication@airborne-museum.org
- 02 33 41 78 03
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