Disability Throughout History: Anne de Gaulle

This first story is the one that motivated me to create this blog. I have a mental list of "historical figures you didn't know had disabilities/had children with disabilities" that has accumulated over the years. It gets added to with modern celebrities that, no matter how their popularity ebbs and flows, will always be impacted by the disability in their own life or their family's. I learned about this young woman on Reddit just last night and, since then, my research wheels have been whirring.

Anne and her father on a beach in Brittany, 1933

Anne de Gaulle was born on January 1, 1928 to parents Charles (1890-1970) and Yvonne (1900-1979). For those who may not know, her father, Charles de Gaulle has a long and influential history in France. Here's the succinct version for context: De Gaulle began as a war hero in World War I. He continued to rise through the military ranks while raising his family and writing on military history and strategy. De Gaulle was a brigadier general in command of a tank brigade when France surrendered to Nazi Germany in May of 1940. He refused to accept the surrender and instead became the exiled leader of the Free French movement. From 1944-1946, he was the president of France's provisional government. After an abrupt resignation and many years of political instability, de Gaulle was elected president in 1959, establishing France's "Fifth Republic." He served for several controversial years before resigning in 1969. He died of a heart attack the following November. De Gaulle's wife of several decades died on the same day as he, nine years later.

For more details about his life and career, check out his Wikipedia. There was also a French biopic, De Gaulle, released in 2020 starring Lambert Wilson and directed by Gabriel Le Bomin. Anne is played by Clémence Hittin, a teenaged actress with Down Syndrome.

Elisabeth, Anne, & Phillipe as children

De Gaulle and his wife had three children together: Phillipe (b. 1921), Elisabeth (1924-2013), and Anne. Anne was born with Down Syndrome and, because of birth injuries following a difficult labor, she would never walk unaided. At this time, almost all children with disabilities were institutionalized and intentionally forgotten. Down Syndrome had only first been described in 1862 and were often referred to as "mongols." Some people still speculated at this time that a child such as this was the result of parental defects, such as alcoholism or impropriety. It would not be until 1958 that Professor Jerome Lejeune would discover the true cause of Down Syndrome: Trisomy 21.

The eugenics movement was going strong at this time, with America and many Western countries forcibly sterilizing people like Anne. The family, though reportedly not embarrassed by their daughter, were private and very little about Anne can be found in French archives.

Anne, a toddler, with her father

According to records, de Gaulle and Yvonne refused to even consider giving up their child to "strangers." Anne's father, a devout French Catholic, said, "God has given her to us. We must take responsibility for her, wherever she is and whatever she will be." Her parents worked hard to make a home for "a child who is not like the others," according to de Gaulle. Yvonne took charge of the practical side of Anne's care while de Gaulle, noted for his stubbornness and reserve, surrounded his child with love. He sang to her, told her stories, and even allowed her to play with his prized officer's kepi hat. Each evening he would patiently say prayers with her, waiting as Anne painstakingly imitated every word. De Gaulle proudly told his relatives that, "You see, she even knows her prayers!" The only word she ever clearly spoke was "Papa," while de Gaulle simply called her, "my joy."

Anne as a child with her father

Anne accompanied her family in all of their travels. De Gaulle, constantly called away on business, always stayed in contact with his wife to hear how Anne was doing. Once, while he was away on maneuvers, he called incessantly to inquire after his daughter following an operation. Her first governess reported that de Gaulle was visibly upset when he had to travel away from the family. When able, he moved his family to his postings. This even included Syria and Lebanon. The family hired full-time help, an enormous expense, to assist with her care.

Yvonne, once carefree and and extroverted, became more quiet and withdrawn as she cared for her severely disabled child. In the spring of 1940, the intrepid Yvonne successfully fled France with her children from the advancing Nazi military, taking the last transport to England. This saved Anne's life: the Nazi government was infamous for murdering thousands of adults and children with disabilities. These individuals were lebensunwertes leben - life unworthy of life.

That same year, de Gaulle confided in a priest that, "for me, this child is a grace, she is my joy, she helps me to look beyond all the failures and honors, and always to look higher."

A teenaged Anne with her mother, Yvonne

Following the war, de Gaulle and Yvonne raised money to purchase Château de Vert-Cœur, not far from Paris, to establish a home for girls with intellectual disabilities. Heartbreakingly, Anne died of pneumonia in her father's arms on February 6, 1948 at the young age of twenty. In a letter to his daughter, Elisabeth, de Gaulle wrote, "Her soul has been set free. But the disappearance of our little suffering child, of our little girl with no hope, has brought us immense pain." Their son, Phillippe, recalled that the house was completely silent and grief-stricken after Anne's death. At the funeral, de Gaulle told his weeping wife, "Now, she's like all the others," before collapsing onto the grave of his youngest child.

Anne as a teenager

De Gaulle and Yvonne established the Fondation-Anne-de-Gaulle and opened the doors of home for girls with disabilities, staffed by nuns and funded by royalties from de Gaulle's memoirs. Yvonne presided over the foundation until her death. It continues to be run by de Gaulle family members and serves the disabled community in France today.

On August 22, 1962, there was an assassination attempt on de Gaulle's life. He later said that the bullet was stopped by the frame of the photograph of Anne that he always carried with him. On this day, it was placed on the rear shelf of his car. Both de Gaulle and his wife Yvonne were buried beside their beloved Anne in the cemetery at their parish church in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises.

Anne as a young child

One of de Gaulle's biographers records him saying once, "Without Anne, I could never perhaps have done what I did. She gave me the heart and inspiration."

Most sincerely,

Clem

Disability Throughout History

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Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Anne de Gaulle - A Father's Love