Hélène Leune

Hélène Vitivilia Leune (Constantinople – 18 May 1940, Vitry-le-François), also known by the pen name Lène Candilly, was a French writer of Greek origin, traveler, war correspondent, and decorated Red Cross nurse.

[9] They accompanied the Greek Army in the field in different campaigns, and their many articles and photographs provide a vivid testament to the valor, horrors and hardship of that war from the perspective of both combatants and civilians.

The Leunes both contributed chapters to the book Dans les Balkans, 1912–1913 : récits et visions de guerre, that describe their wartime experiences.

[11] At the beginning of the hostilities, she was taken prisoner by the Germans and held in Cambrai for five months, after which she was taken through Lille and Aix-la-Chapelle to Switzerland, from where she returned to France [12] She wrote a book about her experience, Tels qu'ils sont.

Leune accompanied her husband to Greece a second time when he was sent to join the Corps expéditionnaire d'Orient as a captain-pilot during World War I.

In recognition of her great devotion to duty in those hospitals, she received both the Croix de Guerre and the Médaille des Épidémies (argent).

[16] After returning to France, Leune worked for two years as the secretary of French novelist Paul Bourget,[17] apparently sometime between 1919 and 1926.

Between at 1914 and 1933, Leune spoke at dozens of conferences as well as radio broadcasts to share her wartime and travel experiences, support the cause of Greece, promote France and speak about the arts.

In response to the German invasion of Poland, France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939 and invaded its western territory, Saarland, with the Saar Offensive.