French Resistance member Cecile Rol-Tanguy dies aged 101

French Resistance fighter Cecile Rol-Tanguy, who risked her life during World War II battling to free Paris from the Nazis, has died at the age of 101.

She died on Friday at her home in Monteaux as commemorations took place to mark the anniversary of Nazi Germany surrendering, with the news made public the following day.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday paid his “respect and recognition for this freedom fighter” on Twitter.

Rol-Tanguy joined the Resistance at 21 years of age, calling for rebellion on the day the Nazis moved in to occupy the French capital in June 1940.

Together with her husband, Henri Rol-Tanguy, she started working as a liaison officer for the French Forces of the Interior (FFI). The two of them had to keep their relationship and their activities secret while using fake identities.

In August 1944, when her husband was the leader of FFI fighters, she worked alongside him to create a command post in an underground shelter in Paris. Later that month, they composed a leaflet calling citizens to arms in Paris, which was liberated six days later.

Only woman at parade

When Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle marched in a victory parade down the Champs-Elysees on August 26, 1945, Rol-Tanguy was the only woman at the reception the general.

Rol-Tanguy later helped highlight the roles of women who heroically fought for France during the war. She received the Legion of Honor, France’s highest distinction, in 1984. Her husband died in 2002.

jsi/rc (AP, dpa)

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