Anne Beaumanoir

Anne Beaumanoir, born Raymonde Marcelle Beaumanoir on October 30, 1923, in Créhen, Côtes-du-Nord, and died on March 4, 2022, in Quimper, Finistère, was a French neurologist, neurophysiologist, and communist activist, a pioneer in the application of electroencephalography in epileptology. For her help to Jews in Brittany during World War II, she was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. She is also known for her involvement in the Algerian War with the FLN and for her various other commitments. Anne Beaumanoir, born in Brittany, joined the Resistance at a very young age during the Occupation, after becoming involved in communist circles. She helped save two young Jews, an act that later earned her and her parents the title of Righteous Among the Nations. After the war, she resumed her medical studies, became a neurologist, and pursued a hospital-university career, notably in Marseille and then Geneva, where she distinguished herself in the fields of neurophysiology and epileptology. Her professional path was never separate from her convictions: she campaigned against fascism, defended the oppressed, and remained committed to the left, even when she distanced herself from the Communist Party.