Barbe Le Clerch
Barbe Le Clerch | |
|---|---|
 Le Clerch after her arrest (1912) | |
| Born | Barbe Marie Josèphe Le Clerch 5 February 1891 Le Faouët, Brittany, France |
| Died | c. 1920 |
| Organisation | Bonnot Gang |
| Movement | Anarchism in France |
| Partner | Marius Metge |
| Parents |
|
Barbe Marie Josèphe Le Clerch[a] (1891–c. 1920) was a Breton domestic worker and illegalist anarchist, linked to the Bonnot Gang.
Biography
[edit]Le Clerch was born on 5 February 1891,[2] in the town of Le Faouët,[3] in the Morbihan department of Brittany.[4] She was the eldest child of the day labourers Françoise Bérréat and Jean Louis Le Clerch, the latter of whom died while she was still young.[2] She was raised by her mother in poverty and never received a literary education.[5] At only 10 years old, she was forced to find a job as a domestic worker.[6]
Le Clerch was one of over 12,000 Bretons who migrated to the French capital of Paris for work.[7] There she met and fell in love with the illegalist anarchist Marius Metge, with whom she lived in Romainville.[6] Le Clerch lived in Romainville from December 1910 to April 1911. During this time, she worked as a domestic servant in Les Pavillons-sous-Bois and provided information about the property she worked in to Metge, who later burgled the residence. They briefly moved to Suresnes,[8] before moving on to Garches.[9] There they stayed in a bungalow known as "Holly Oak", where they provided a hiding place for Édouard Carouy while he was being trailed by a journalist.[10] Over the subsequent year, they carried out a series of burglaries in order to sustain themselves.[8] On 2 January 1912, Metge and Carouy carried out a robbery of a wealthy landlord's house in Thiais. They got away with roughly 10,000 francs, while Metge also took an umbrella and earrings to give to Le Clerch as gifts.[11]
Following the robbery, on 10 January, police launched a raid on the house of Louis Rimbault, where Le Clerch and Metge had stayed.[12] By this time, Le Clerch, Metge and Carouy had already fled their house in Garches, fearing that they were being watched.[11] On 14 January, police arrested Metge, but Le Clerch managed to escape capture.[13] Police found Metge's palm print at a house on Place du Havre and found jewelry which had been stolen from the house at Le Clerch's residence.[14] On 6-7 May 1912, police arrested Le Clerch and her new companion, another illegalist anarchist named Edouard Forget, on Rue Du Couédic.[15] Le Clerch was caught in possession of over 900 francs,[16] as well as items stolen from Les Pavillons-sous-Bois.[17]
Le Clerch was incarcerated in Saint-Lazare Prison, together with two other women of the Bonnot Gang: Marie Vuillemin and Rirette Maîtrejean,[18] the latter of whom taught Le Clerch how to read.[19] Le Clerch's physical health deteriorated in prison, as she had contracted tuberculosis. On 15 August 1912, she was granted compassionate release on medical grounds. She was given a place to stay at the offices of L'Anarchie, ran by Émile Armand. She later moved to Rue des Panoyaux, where on 9 November, she was again arrested together with her new companion Indalecio Ibañez, charged with having attacked a post office in Bezons.[2]
Le Clerch was accused of complicity in theft and her trial began on 3 February 1913.[20] Together with Vuillemin and Maîtrejean, the prosecution defined her by her gender rather than her alleged role in any criminal activity.[21] Metge himself confessed to participating in the burglary in Les Pavillons-sous-Bois, and admitted to having given Le Clerch some earrings and 1,300 francs which he claimed to have been given by "a friend", who he refused to name.[22] At 05:00 on 25 February, Le Clerch, Maîtrejean, Vuillemin, and Léon Rodriguez were summoned to the court room.[23] The jury found them not guilty on all charges.[24] Having escaped conviction, Le Clerch returned to her life in Paris, where she lived under a pseudonym.[25] On 28 March 1914, she testified in the case against Indalecio Ibañez, but her defense of her companion was unsuccessful and he was given a life sentence of penal labour.[2]
Few records exist of Le Clerch after 1914. According to her grandnieces, she went on to have two children and worked at a cooperative. Victor Serge wrote that she died shortly after her trial, but her family mention her having been visited by her younger sister around 1920; her own family do not know the details of her death.[2]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Parry 1987.
- ^ a b c d e f Steiner 2022.
- ^ Merriman 2017, p. 102; Steiner 2022.
- ^ Merriman 2017, p. 102; Parry 1987, p. 61; Steiner 2022.
- ^ Merriman 2017, pp. 102–103; Parry 1987, p. 61; Steiner 2022.
- ^ a b Merriman 2017, pp. 102–103; Steiner 2022.
- ^ Merriman 2017, pp. 102–103.
- ^ a b Merriman 2017, p. 103.
- ^ Merriman 2017, p. 103; Parry 1987, p. 61.
- ^ Parry 1987, pp. 85–86.
- ^ a b Parry 1987, p. 86.
- ^ Merriman 2017, pp. 130–131.
- ^ Merriman 2017, p. 131; Steiner 2022.
- ^ Merriman 2017, p. 220.
- ^ Parry 1987, p. 140; Steiner 2022.
- ^ Merriman 2017, p. 222; Parry 1987, pp. 140–141; Steiner 2022.
- ^ Merriman 2017, p. 222; Steiner 2022.
- ^ Parry 1987, p. 148.
- ^ Merriman 2017, p. 161; Parry 1987, p. 148.
- ^ Merriman 2017, p. 222.
- ^ Parry 1987, p. 155.
- ^ Merriman 2017, p. 231.
- ^ Merriman 2017, pp. 233–234.
- ^ Merriman 2017, pp. 233–234; Parry 1987, p. 159; Steiner 2022.
- ^ Merriman 2017, p. 307n31.
Bibliography
[edit]- Merriman, John (2017). Ballad of the Anarchist Bandits: The Crime Spree that Gripped Belle Époque Paris. Nation Books. ISBN 978-1-56858-988-6.
- Parry, Richard (1987). The Bonnot Gang. London: Rebel Press. ISBN 0-946061-04-1.
- Steiner, Anne (10 October 2022) [2014-05-01]. "LE CLERCH (ou Le CLERC'H) Barbe, Marie, Josèphe". Dictionnaire des anarchistes (in French). Éditions de l'Atelier.
