Sidonie Vaillant
Sidonie Vaillant | |
|---|---|
Sidonie Vaillant in Le Petit Parisien (27 January 1894) | |
| Born | 9 August 1883 |
| Died | 2 October 1966 (aged 83) Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France |
| Occupation | Anarchist |
| Known for | Daughter of anarchist Auguste Vaillant; symbolic figure in French anarchist history |
| Movement | Anarchism |
Sidonie Vaillant, (9 August 1883 – 2 October 1966) was a French anarchist activist. She is best known for being the daughter of Auguste Vaillant (1861-1894), an anarchist responsible for the National Assembly bombing. Although the attack killed no one, the family's extreme poverty and Sidonie's young age at the time of the incident stirred part of French society to call on Sadi Carnot to pardon Vaillant. She became involved in writing texts to plead for her father's clemency, including a letter to Cécile Carnot, but to no avail.
Despite the offers from Anne de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Paule Mink and Marie-Rose Astié de Valsayre to care for the young Vaillant, Auguste chose instead to entrust her to Sébastien Faure. He was executed shortly afterward. The Italian companion Sante Caserio assassinated Sadi Carnot in Lyon as an act of revenge for his refusal to respond to Sidonie Vaillant.
She then continued her activism and died in 1966 in Nantes.