Born around 1412, Jeanne d’Arc (or in English, Joan of Arc) was the daughter of Jacques d’Arc and Isabelle Romée, a peasant family from the village of Domrémy, in northeastern France.
During th
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Joan of Arc: The Short but Eventful life of the Maid of Lorraine
May 22, 2021
This is a good time to remind ourselves about the life and death of Joan of Arc, because it was on May 9, 1920, that Joan of Arc was canonized by Pope Benedict XV. This is also the month she was executed. She led the French armies against the English during the Hundred Years' War. After seeing the prince crowned King Charles VII, Joan was captured by Anglo-Burgundian forces, tried for witchcraft and heresy and burned at the stake in 1431, at the age of 19. By the time she was officially canonized in 1920, the Maid of Orléans, as she was known, had long been considered one of history’s greatest saints, and an enduring symbol of French unity and nationalism. Also nicknamed the "Maid of Lorraine," Joan of Arc is considered a heroine of France for her role during the Hundred Years War.
Marcel Marceau: The Legendary Mime Who Served in the French Resistance, Fought the Nazis, and Saved Countless Children
Mar 22, 2021
Renowned French Mime, Marcel Marceau, was born On this Day, March 22, 1923. Expert in the practice of silence, his most famous quote is, "".
Born in Strasbourg, France as Marcel Mangel— his father, Charles Mangel, was a kosher butcher originally from Będzin, Poland. His mother, Anne Werzberg, came from Yabluniv, present-day Ukraine.
When Marcel was four years old, the family moved to Lille, but they later returned to Strasbourg. When he was 16, the Nazis marched into eastern France. Marcel and his family fled with his family to Limoges in the southwest where he lived in hiding.
He would ultimately change his name to Marceau— to hide his Jewish roots, and to honor François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers, a general of the French Revolution.
His father was a baritone who loved music and the theater, and he introduced Marcel to both at an early age. Marcel was captivated by the silent film stars of the era: Chaplin, Buster Keaton and the Marx brothers.
He was schooled in the Paris
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