Mink, Paule

(1839-1900)

   feminist, political activist

   Born Paulina Mekarska in Clermont-Ferrand, the daughter of Polish nobles who had fled to France after the 1830 Revolution, Paule Minke moved to Paris in her youth and worked as a seamstress. in 1868, she founded a women's mutual aid society and worked with the feminist maria deraismes. Paule Mink organized the defense of Auxerre during the franco-prussian war (1870-71), and after trying to raise support for the Paris commune, she was forced to flee to switzerland (1871). Returning to France in 1880 after the amnesty, she worked with various socialist groups and on women's rights issues with eugénie pontonie-pierre and hubertine auclert. In 1993, she stood as a candidate for the National Assembly and served as editorial secretary of La question sociale (1894-97). The effective leader of the Socialist Women's Movement in France, Mink was widely respected and, at her death, there were huge demonstrations in commemoration of her role as a Communard hero.