Yvonne Oddon was an early resister of German occupation of France in the Second World War.
While serving as the Head Librarian of the musée de l'Homme, she had sent books and clothing to French prisoners of war.
With Lucie Boutillier du Rétail, Oddon helped prisoners escape and find shelter and food as well as safe haven.
After the war, Yvonne Oddon, while continuing her work at the Musée de l'Homme, took part in numerous missions under the aegis of UNESCO (Haïti, 1949) and took part in the organisation of education conferences based in Malmö in 1950 and in Ibadan in 1954; then the creation of the International Council of Museums, for which she made a classification system; and she took part, after her retirement, in numerous missions, particularly to the Museum centre in Jos, Nigeria.
She was awarded the rank of Chevalier (Légion d'honneur) for her resistance work and was later promoted to Officier.