Léo Wanner

Léo Wanner, (5 January 1886 – 5 November 1941), was a French communist, anti-fascist, and anti-imperialist activist and journalist. Wanner led the French division of the League Against Imperialism and Colonial Oppression and opposed the colonial occupations of Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco through her activism and reporting.

Biography

Early life

Léo Wanner was born in 1886 in Bourg-en-Bresse; both of her parents were gardeners. Her first marriage to Jean Faudrin ended in divorce, and later she married an engineer named Arthur Wanner. Léo Wanner and her second husband had an equal relationship, which was not common for that time. She participated in feminist demonstrations in Lyon, but she was frustrated by her fellow members, who she believed were too and lacked solidarity with working class women.

In 1932, Wanner led the French division of the League Against Imperialism and Colonial Oppression.

In March 1936, she met Shakib Arslan in Geneva. Wanner traveled to North Africa with Robert-Jean Longuet, the great-grandson of Karl Marx, to meet with leaders of independence movements.

Wanner served as secretary of the .