Thérèse Pierre

Thérèse Pierre, born November 5, 1908, was a teacher, a courageous leader in the French Resistance, and a bisexual woman who gave her life fighting against the Nazis. While studying to become a teacher, she began a relationship with a fellow educator, Emma Pitoizet. Though their relationship was open, Emma remained Thérèse’s primary partner for many years.

As fascism spread across Europe, both women joined the Communist Party and attended anti-fascist meetings. Thérèse’s activism intensified after Emma married a man and withdrew from political life. By the time Nazi Germany invaded France, Thérèse was teaching math and science in the town of Fougères. There, she joined the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans (FTP), the most effective and well-organized faction of the French Resistance.

Thérèse quickly rose to lead the Fougères cell, commanding around 100 resistance fighters. She transported weapons, explosives, grenades, and false ID cards, and sheltered people in her home. She actively participated in armed operations, including the destruction of Gestapo trucks and attacks on German field headquarters.

In October 1943, she was captured by German intelligence officers seeking the leader of the cell. Over two days, Thérèse was brutally tortured, both her legs were broken and she was beaten, in a failed attempt to force her to betray her comrades. She never yielded. Communicating through heating pipes to fellow prisoners, she reassured them: “They got nothing from me.”

The next morning, at just 34 years old, Thérèse Pierre was found hanged in her cell.

She was posthumously awarded the Silver War Cross and named a Knight of the Legion of Honor. Today, two schools bear the name of this extraordinary, brave, and queer educator who stood fiercely against oppression.