Marie-Antoinette Lix Explained

Marie-Antoinette Lix
Othername:Tony Lix
Birth Date:31 May 1839
Birth Place:Colmar, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France
Death Date:14 January 1909
Death Place:Saint-Nicolas-de-Port, Meurthe-et-Moselle
Nationality:French

Marie-Antoinette Lix (31 May 1839  - 14 January 1909) was a French governess and heroine of the 1863–64 January Uprising against Russia who later fought in the Franco-Prussian War.

Lix was born in Colmar, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France to François-Antoine Lix and Françoise Schmitt.[1] She was given a full military education by her father, who later sent her to Sisters of Divine Providence in Ribeauvillé to be further educated. After graduating as a teacher, she became a governess to the Łubieński family, a Polish noble family in Szyce. She joined the Polish insurrection against Russia in 1863, dressed as a man, acted as a courier on the side of the Polish rebels,[2] but was captured by the Russians and then released. She returned to France in 1866.[3]

Following the Battle of Sedan (1870) in the Franco-Prussian War, Lix joined the French Army under General Pierre de Failly. She was a sniper in Lamarche as a lieutenant before joining General Albert Cambriels' troops. She participated in the defense of Vosges and the city of Langres, and distinguished herself during the Battle of Nompatelize on 6 October 1870.[3]

She died in 1909 in Saint-Nicolas-de-Port, Meurthe-et-Moselle. In 1910, an organisation of women of Strasbourg and Colmar donated a silver sword in her honour to the Musée de l'Armée in Paris.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Alsace-Lorraine, Germany, French Citizenship Declarations (Optants), 1872
  2. Françoise d'Eaubonne, L'Amazone sombre : vie d'Antoinette Lix, 1837-1909, Ed. Encre, Paris, 1983, 309 p.
  3. Web site: Les femmes de Colmar et de Strasbourg honorent Marie-Antoinette Lix Le blog des collections . 27 April 2017 . . 30 December 2019 . fr-FR.