Yvonne Beauvais
| Yvonne Beauvais | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
July 16, 1901 Cossé-en-Champagne, France |
| Died |
February 3, 1951 (aged 49) Malestroit, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Other names | Mother Yvonne-Aimée of Jesus, Yvonne-Aimée de Malestroit |
| Occupation | Roman Catholic Nun |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Yvonne Beauvais (French pronunciation: [ivɔn bovɛ]; July 16, 1901 – February 3, 1951) was a French Augustinian nun. She took the name Mother Yvonne-Aimée of Jesus.[1] She helped Allied soldiers and French resistance fighters during World War II, and in 1946, she established the Federation of the Augustinian monasteries.
Biography
Beauvais was born in Cossé-en-Champagne in the Mayenne department. Her father died when she was three and she went to stay with her maternal grandmother. She returned to live with her mother the following year, staying at boarding schools where her mother was director. At the age of twenty, she joined with the Association of the Children of Mary Immaculate in serving the poor.[1] Beauvais fell ill the following year with typhoid fever[2] and was treated at a small hospital at Malestroit run by the Augustinian Sisters of Mercy. In March 1927, she entered the convent at Malestroit as a postulant. In 1935, she was elected mother superior for the community.[1]
She helped Allied soldiers and French resistance fighters during World War II by sheltering them at the hospital and aiding their escape. She is said to have disguised some Allied airmen as nuns.[3] She was awarded the French Legion of Honour by General Charles de Gaulle.[2]
In 1946, she established the Federation of the Augustinian monasteries and became its first Superior General.[4]
In early 1951, she was planning to visit nuns of the order in Natal, South Africa. However, she died in February before her departure at the age of 49[1] from a cerebral hemorrhage[5] in Malestroit.[4]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Yvonne Beauvais, Mother Yvonne-Aimée of Jesus". Community of the Augustinians of Malestroit.
- 1 2 "Le Petit Roi d'Amour : entre dévotion privée et politique" (in French). Archives de sciences sociales des religions.
- ↑ "Armed with a smile or a dagger: Women in the French Resistance". Syracuse University.
- 1 2 "General Introduction - Mother Yvonne-Aimée of Jesus". Community of the Augustinians of Malestroit.
- ↑ "Mère Yvonne Aimée de Jésus - Présentation générale" (in French). Community of the Augustinians of Malestroit.