Nathalie Lemel

Nathalie Lemel (French pronunciation: [natali ləmɛl]; 26 August 1827 – 1921[1][2][3]), was a militant anarchist and feminist who participated on the barricades at the Commune de Paris of 1871.

Nathalie Lemel was born in Brest (in the department of Finistère), in Brittany, where her parents, the Duvals, owned a café.

Their business lasted until 1861, when the couple declared bankruptcy due to Jérôme's drinking problem, and Nathalie left him with their three children and went to Paris in order to find work.

According to a police report, She was noticed because of her intense excitement and her political activism; in the workshops, she read bad newspapers aloud; she assiduously frequented the [union] clubs.This was in addition to her strong opposition to the Second Empire.

These speeches helped to create, with Elisabeth Dmitrieff (a protégée of Karl Marx), the Women's Union for the Defense of Paris and Care of the Wounded, on 11 April, of which she became a member of the central committee.

On 26 March, following the elections, a revolutionary council was put in place, which counted people such as Jules Vallès, Charles Delescluzes, Raoul Rigault, Gustave Flourens, and Eugène Varlin.

Nevertheless, they arrived five days after the men, on 14 December 1873, on the peninsula Ducos, where they ended up sharing the same cell; it is possible that she had a certain influence on her cellmate.