Émilie Carles

Émilie Carles (29 May 1900 – 29 July 1979) was a French writer and activist.

Biography

Marie Julie Émilie Allais was born in Val-des-Prés on 29 May 1900. Her parents were small farmers in a mountainous region. Her mother died when she was just four. Two of her brothers fought in the First World War. She became a pacifist as a result of their experiences. Carles was educated in a local school but travelled to Paris to complete her teaching diploma when she was sixteen. She returned home and taught in various schools in the area.

in 1927 she met Jean Carles who became her husband. They were pacifists and feminists. The couple had two sons and a daughter. In 1936 they transformed their home in Val-des-Prés into a holiday inn for workers from the city. Their income continued to be supported by Carles' teaching salary. They experienced a tragedy during the Second World War when their daughter was killed in a pedestrian traffic accident with a military truck. Though Jean Carles was entitled to a military pension as a veteran of World War I, he refused it and refused to fight in the Second World War. To avoid being arrested as a deserter, he spent most of the war in hiding. He died in 1962.