Mathurine Fourchon
Mathurine Fourchon was born in 1786 in Gausson in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. She is a Breton soldier. She is the seventh woman to be decorated with the Legion of Honor.[1]
Biography
[edit]Mathurine Fourchon behaved heroically during the Siege of Constantine, in Algeria, in October 1837. She treated the wounded there. She was wounded in turn by four bullets.[2]
In 1853, under Napoleon III, Mathurine Fourchon was decorated with the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honor in recognition of her devotion.
After her military career, Mathurine Fourchon settled in Saint-Malo before retiring to Nantes. She died there on April 9, 1863,[3] in poverty. The Nantes city council paid for her funeral expenses.
She is buried in La Bouteillerie Cemetery in Nantes.
Her Legion of Honor arouses protests.[4]
Honours
[edit]
knight of the Legion of Honour
