Anna Guérin
Biography
Birth name = Anna Alix Boulle.
Birth date = February 3, 18781878-02-03)
Birth place = Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, France
Death date = April 16, 1961 (aged 83)
Death place = 5 Charles Dickens Square, Paris
Nationality = French
Occupation = Teacher, Lecturer, WW1 War Lecturer, Humanitarian, Originator of the 'Inter-Allied Poppy Day' idea - adopted by all English-speaking First World War allied nations.
Awards = Certificat d’aptitude pédagogique (C.A.P.), Ordre des Palmes académiques, l‘Officier de l'Instruction Publique, U.S. Victory Liberty Loan Medal
Anna E. Guérin (born Anna Alix Boulle, 3 February 1878 – 16 April 1961) was the originator of the Remembrance Poppy Day. Prior to this, she was a teacher in Madagascar; a lecturer for the Alliance Française; and a lecturer, fundraiser and humanitarian in the United States, during World War I. For services to France, she was awarded the Ordre des Palmes académiques. and the l‘Officier de l'Instruction Publique. For her services to the United States, for the Liberty Bond, Anna Guérin was awarded the Victory Liberty Loan Medallion.
Initially, her Poppy Days benefited the widows and orphans of the war devastated regions of France. She was christened “The Poppy Lady from France” after being invited to address the American Legion, at its 1920 convention, in Cleveland, Ohio, about her original ‘Inter-Allied Poppy Day’ idea. Her idea was for all World War I Allied countries to use artificial poppies, made by French widows and orphans, as an emblem for remembering those who gave their lives during the World War I and, at the same time, creating a method of raising funds to support the families of the fallen and those who had survived, thereafter. Now, the Remembrance Poppy encompasses all conflicts that have occurred since.