Yva Léro

Yva Léro (4 July 1912 – 25 September 2007) was an Afro-Martiniquais writer and painter. She was one of the earliest Antillean writers in Paris preceding the Négritude movement. An ardent feminist, she participated in international congresses and was a co-founder of the Women's Union of Martinique (French: Union des Femmes de la Martinique). Her writing and painting depicted the life and culture of Martinique, evaluating class, gender, and race and the multi-layered society which existed in her Caribbean homeland.

Yva Léro
Born	Yva de Montaigne (1912-07-04)4 July 1912 La Trinité, Martinique
Died	25 September 2007(2007-09-25) (aged 95) Fort-de-France, Martinique
Nationality	French
Occupation	writer, feminist

Early life

Yva de Montaigne was born on 4 July 1912[1] in La Trinité, Martinique to Eponine (née Vachier) and Paul de Montaigne.[2] Both of her parents were of mixed heritage, belonged to the island's mulatto class and enjoyed the privileges that her father's employment as a road engineer for the Department of Civil Engineering brought them. He was also the head of the local Freemason Lodge and well-respected in the community. De Montaigne and her nine siblings enjoyed their childhood, but were aware of the poverty of the black workers on the island, which would later feature in her paintings.[2]

Paris

De Montaigne contracted a severe case of malaria and parasitic disease shortly after graduating from elementary school. As she was unable to attend high school, her parents enrolled her in the correspondence courses offered by the École universelle in Paris. The death of her parents, forced de Montaigne to move to Paris to join her siblings. She enrolled in the Pigier School, but left before graduating to seek employment and continue self-studies.[2] She was among the earliest group of black Antillean writers in Paris, producing poetic works before the authors of the Négritude movement.[3][4] De Montaigne became involved in the international feminist movement and was passionate about the defense of women's rights.[2]

In 1943, French authorities in Martinique began to make administrative changes, which resulted in a burgeoning women's movement. Jane Léro, who would become de Montaigne's sister-in-law, played an active part in organizing the movement, and in June 1944 founded the Martiniquais Committee of the Union of Women (French: Comité de l’Union des Femmes de la Martinique), which in 1946 would become the Union of French Women.[5] Yva was one of the founding members of the organization.[6] During World War II, she worked as a messenger for the French Resistance.[2]

Near the end of the war, de Montaigne met and married Thélus Léro, a mathematician working in Paris who was also from Martinique,[2] and the couple subsequently had three children.[7] Thélus would serve as a Communist senator, representing Martinique in the French Senate from 1946 to 1948, participating with Aimé Césaire and others in the process to reform the former French colonies into Departments of France. Césaire and his wife, Suzanne and the Léros became close friends, often socializing together. During this time, in 1947, Léro attended the congress of the Union of French Women as the delegate for Martinique. Later, when they returned to Martinique, Suzanne and Yva would remain close, working together on women's rights.[2]

Return to Martinique

After the war ended, the family returned to Martinique and Léro began publishing collections of short stories. Her stories reflected the multi-cultural layers of society in the Antilles and focused on class, gender and race and the interweaving of prejudices. She also published an anthology of her poetry and a novel. Illustrating her own works with etchings, she also painted scenes of rural life in Martinique, focusing on every day workers.[2]

Death and legacy

Léro died in September 2007 in Fort-de-France, Martinique and was buried on 25 September after services held at the Bellevue Church. Léro was predeceased by her daughter Cathy Rosier, who died in 2004.[7]

Selected works

• La Plaie, (written in 1957, but not published until 1979).[2] The novel evaluates prejudice and the differences between rural and urban life.[3]
• Douchérie (1958)[2]
• Douchérie: Loin du pays (1959)[3]
• Peau d’ébène (1960)[3]
• Histoires passées (1974)[3]

References

Citations

1. Mansfield 2009, p. 347.
2. Vété-Congolo 2016.
3. Paravisini-Gebert & Torres-Seda 1993, p. 203.
4. Rosemont & Kelley 2009, p. 49.
5. Femmes martiniquaises 1977, p. 7.
6. Mauvois 1997, p. 43.
7. Thurenne 2007.

Bibliography

• Mansfield, Éric (2009). La symbolique du regard: regardants et regardés dans la poésie antillaise d'expression française: Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyane, 1945-1982 [The symbolic gaze: looking from the view of French-Antillian poetry: Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyana, 1945-1982] (in French). Paris, France: Editions Publibook. ISBN 978-2-7483-5012-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Mauvois, Yvette (1997). "Union des femmes de la Martinique: Listes des Membres d'Honneur" [Women's Union of Martinique: List of Honored Members]. Patrimoines Martiniquais (in French). Fort-de-France, Martinique: Banque Numérique des Patrimoines Martiniquais, General Council of Martinique. Retrieved 6 November 2017. Biography of Yva Léro on page 43.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Paravisini-Gebert, Lizabeth; Torres-Seda, Olga (1993). Caribbean women novelists: an annotated critical bibliography. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-28342-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Rosemont, Franklin; Kelley, Robin D.G. (2009). Black, Brown, & Beige: Surrealist Writings from Africa and the Diaspora. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-71997-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Thurenne, François (25 September 2007). "Décès d'Yva Léro, la lutte féministe en deuil" [Death of Yva Léro, feminists in mourning] (in French). Fort de France, Martinique: DOMactu. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Vété-Congolo, Hanétha (2016). "Léro, Yva (1912–2007)". In Knight, Franklin W.; Gates, Jr, Henry Louis (eds.). Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro–Latin American Biography. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-93580-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)  – via Oxford University Press's Reference Online (subscription required)
• "Union des Femmes de la Martinique". Femmes martiniquaises (in French). Banque Numérique des Patrimoines Martiniquais, General Council of Martinique: 7. September 1977. Archived from the original on 6 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.