Josephine Baker is considered a war hero in France. In order to honor her properly, she is now posthumously given the highest honor in the country.
Singer, dancer and actress Josephine Baker (1906-1975, “Zouzou”) was born in the USA, but is especially revered in France as a heroine of the Second World War. To honor the resistance fighter’s efforts, she will be buried posthumously in the Panthéon in Paris this autumn – as the first black woman ever.
, Baker’s remains are to be transferred to the National Hall of Fame on November 30th as part of a solemn ceremony, in which famous French such as the physicist Marie Curie (1867-1934) and the philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778) found their final resting place. The decision is said to have been personally approved by French President Emmanuel Macron (43). In France, only the head of state decides in the last instance who is bestowed the highest honor in the country.
Josephine Baker worked for the Resistance during World War II
Born in 1906 in St. Louis (Missouri, USA), the entertainer fled racism and segregation across the Atlantic in 1925 and took French citizenship in 1937. The later burlesque icon was the first black show star in Europe and is also considered a war hero in France because of her courageous efforts during the Second World War. Thanks to his pilot training, Baker assisted the French Red Cross as a flying nurse and also worked for the secret service and the Resistance. She died in 1975 in the Hôpital de la Salpêtrière in Paris and was then buried in Monaco.
I am a 24-year-old writer and journalist who has been working in the news industry for the past two years. I write primarily about market news, so if you’re looking for insights into what’s going on in the stock market or economic indicators, you’ve come to the right place. I also dabble in writing articles on lifestyle trends and pop culture news.
