Jeanne Bohec | |
|---|---|
 Jeanne Bohec, circa 1940 | |
| Born | 16 February 1919 Tourlaville, Normandy |
| Died | 11 January 2010 (aged 90) Paris |
| Resting place | Plestin-les-Grèves |
| Occupation(s) | Explosives expert, resistance fighter, math teacher |
| Known for | Sabotage in occupied France |
Jeanne Bohec (born 16 February 1919 in Tourlaville in Normandy; died 11 January 2010) was a French Resistance fighter.
After enlisting in the Women's Volunteer Corps of the Free French Forces, she joined the Central Intelligence and Action Bureau and learned sabotage techniques. She parachuted into occupied France in February 1944 and then conducted her work in the resistance by criss-crossing Brittany by bicycle; hence, her nickname “the bomber on a bicycle”. She trained teams of saboteurs, organized and took part in several sabotage operations and participated in the liberation of France.
After the war, she became a professor of mathematics and deputy mayor of the 18th arrondissement of Paris. She wrote a book describing her involvement in the Resistance: La Plastiqueuse à bicyclette (The Bomber on a Bicycle).
On 10 April 1975 Jacques Chaban-Delmas stated: "At a time when the equivalence between women and men is the subject of many speeches or is the subject of many measures, Jeanne Bohec provides striking proof that women are quite capable of attaining a degree of courage, determination and efficiency accessible to few men."[1]
- ^ Quote from Chalban-Delmas’ foreword to Bohec’s memoir, La plastiqueuse à bicyclette, cited in: Discours d'Éric Lejoindre, inauguration de la Place Jeanne Bohec, Paris 18, 8 mars 2016. https://www.api-site.paris.fr/mairies/public/assets/2017%2F10%2FDiscours_EL___Inauguration_place_Jeanne_Bohec___08_03_16.pdf Archived 2023-04-25 at the Wayback Machine