Gisèle Halimi

Gisèle Halimi (born Zeiza Gisèle Élise Taïeb; 27 July 1927 – 28 July 2020) was a Tunisian-French lawyer, politician, essayist, and feminist activist. She was born in La Goulette, Tunisia, to a modest, practicing Jewish Berber family, Edouard and Fortunée "Fritna" Taïeb. She was educated at a French lycée in Tunis and later attended the University of Paris, where she studied law and philosophy. Her childhood and her blending of Jewish-Muslim identity are explored in her memoir, *Le lait de l'oranger*. She was first married to Paul Halimi and later to Claude Faux. She died on 28 July 2020, the day after her 93rd birthday.

In 1948, Halimi qualified as a lawyer and spent eight years practising at the Tunis bar before moving to the Paris bar in 1956. She served as counsel for the Algerian National Liberation Front, most notably defending Djamila Boupacha in 1960, who had been raped and tortured by French soldiers. In 1961, she co-authored a book on Boupacha's case, with an introduction by Simone de Beauvoir. She also represented individuals from the Basque Country accused of crimes during the region's conflict and was involved in numerous cases concerning women's rights, including the 1972 Bobigny abortion trial, which drew national attention.

In 1967, she chaired the Russell Tribunal, initiated by Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre to examine U.S. military actions in Vietnam. In 1971, she founded the feminist group Choisir (To Choose) to support women who had signed the Manifesto of the 343, which admitted to having had illegal abortions—of which she was one. In 1972, Choisir became a reformist organization, and its campaign significantly contributed to the 1974 law legalizing contraception and abortion, led by Simone Veil.

In 1981, Halimi was elected to the French National Assembly as an independent Socialist, representing Isère until 1984. From 1985 to 1987, she served as a French delegate to UNESCO. In 1998, she was a founding member of ATTAC.