Yvonne Pitrois

Yvonne Pitrois (14 December 1880 – 23 April 1937) was a French writer. She wrote a variety of popular books, including multiple biographies of historical figures. Deaf from childhood, Pitrois advocated for the welfare of deaf and deafblind people in her work, including the founding of two magazines featuring advice and inspirational stories about deaf people. She was awarded the Montyon Prize in 1929 for her lifelong efforts in support of the deaf and deafblind community.

Early life and education Yvonne Pitrois was born on 14 December 1880 in Paris. Born hearing, she lost her hearing at age seven after a bout of fevers caused by severe heat stroke.

Pitrois published her first book, a collection of stories about humble lives titled Jeunes vies, at age eighteen. The bimonthly magazine featured advice for young deaf people as well as biographical sketches of contemporary deaf people. Pitrois wrote letters to each of the 900 subscribers. In 1928 Pitrois founded a second magazine, Le Rayon de Soleil des Sourds‐Aveugles, written in French Braille for the deafblind. Most of the magazine's issues were dedicated to sharing information and ideas among the deafblind community.

Pitrois's biography of Helen Keller, Une nuit rayonnante, was published in 1922. Pitrois and Keller were acquainted through the Cosmopolitan Correspondence Club, a deaf letter writing exchange for people in the Western world. Since Pitrois had experienced deafblindness as a child, and because she was a deaf woman writer, she was well placed to write about Keller's life. Pitrois wrote with empathy and strong admiration of Keller, though she critiqued Keller's performances on the vaudeville circuit as being an offensive spectacle.

She was a member of the Société des gens de lettres, a French writers' society. She helped obtain books and periodicals about deafness for the library of Selwyn Oxley, an English educator whose collection of books would be the foundation of the University College London Ear Institute and Action on Hearing Loss Libraries.

Service to the deaf community During World War I, Pitrois organized collections of financial support to help deaf people who were left without food or shelter by occupying German armies. She wrote about the suffering of the deaf community in France and Belgium during the war in The Silent Worker, requesting funds from American readers. In her column, she translated letters and featured photographs of the recipients of those grants. She helped reunite deaf refugees with their families and placed deaf children in school programs. Pitrois received a Medal of Honor from the Société nationale d'encouragement au bien in 1920 and was awarded the Prix Montyon in 1929 from the Académie Française for her work in improving the lives of deaf and deafblind people. The Académie Française made her an officer for her literary work.

After the end of the war and the death of her mother, Pitrois welcomed orphaned or troubled deaf girls and young women to live with her in her rural cottage in Brittany.

She died in France on 23 April 1937.

Selected publications Coeurs aimants. Genève : J.H. Jeheber, 1905 La fille de Victor Hugo. Lausanne : G. Bridel, 1906 Abraham Lincoln, le libérateur des esclaves. Toulouse : Société d'édition de Toulouse, 1911 La vie de l'Abbé de L'Epée : racontée aux sourds-muets. Saint-Étienne : L'Institution des Sourds-Muets, 1912 Une noble victime : Miss Edith Cavell. Paris, 1915 Les femmes de la Grande Guerre 1914-1915-1916. Genève : J.-H. Jeheber, 1916 Ombres de femmes. Lausanne : Payot, 1929 Veillée de Noël : Cinq récits pour les petits et pour les grands. Strasbourg : Librarie évangélique, 1932