Séverine, écrivain de combat

Séverine, a prolific and popular woman journalist, took an independent and courageous stand on all of the issues of her day. A protégée of Jules Vallès, she helped bring the author back into French journalism after the Commune. Eventually she became the owner of his paper, the Socialist Cri du Peuple. Although transferring subsequently to the fashionable press, she never forgot her mentor. At first convinced of Dreyfus's guilt, she became certain of his innocence, and her articles for La Fronde during his trial were extremely sympathetic. This paper analyzes and describes her steadfast support of the anarchists during the difficult 1890-1900 decade; and her unshakable pacifism throughout the first World War. (BB)