[2] She moved to Paris and worked in a department store before meeting a young Algerian migrant and political activist, Messali Hadj.

[5] During Messali's long spells in prison, Émilie often spoke on his behalf and used her position as a Frenchwoman to pour particular scorn on France's declared commitment to "civilising" Algeria.

While there is some dispute over who exactly designed green and white with red star and crescent symbol,[7] Émilie is generally credited as having sewed the first version of the flag.

Her funeral in Neuves-Maisons was attended by delegation from the major parties of the radical Left and her husband, under police surveillance, gave a eulogy recalling her activism and declaring her "the symbol of the union of the Algerian and French peoples in their shared struggle".

[8] A long forgotten figure, her hometown erected a plaque in her memory on the fiftieth anniversary of her death in 2003 while a 2015 documentary by director Rabah Zanoun introduced a French audience to her story for the first time.