The Women’s Cause

Gisèle Halimi was born Zeiza Gisèle Élise Taïeb in La Goulette, Tunisia, to a religious, mixed Jewish–Berber family. Educated in a French lycée in Tunis and later at the University of Paris, she graduated with degrees in law and philosophy and was a member of the Paris bar since 1956. Halimi’s legal career was devoted to defending minorities, notably Muslims and women, for which she became famous during the Franco-Algerian War. She was counsel for the National Liberation Front and, in particular, for Djamila Boupacha, whose case she helped popularize with Simone de Beauvoir. In 1967, Halimi chaired the Russell Tribunal on international war crimes. In 1971, she helped found Choisir la cause des femmes, an organization committed to defending women, criminalizing rape, and legalizing abortion. She was also a prolific author, particularly of feminist history and prose.