Germaine Tillion

Germaine Tillion, born on May 30, 1907 in Allègre in Haute-Loire, is an emblematic figure of the French Resistance, ethnologist and writer. She devoted her life to the fight against oppression and the defense of human rights.

Germaine Tillion is the daughter of a magistrate and a publisher. She studied ethnology under Marcel Mauss and Louis Massignon at the Collège de France. Her first research took her to Algeria, where she studied Berber societies.

During the Second World War, Tillion joined the French Resistance. She was arrested in 1942 and deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp in 1943. Despite the inhumane conditions, she continued to document life in the camp and help her fellow prisoners. After her release in 1945, Germaine Tillion worked to collect testimonies and documents on the concentration camps. She also wrote several books about her experience, including “Ravensbrück,” which became a reference on the subject.