Odile de Vasselot (6 January 1922 – 21 April 2025) was a French resistance fighter.
Biography
Odile de Vasselot de Régné was born on 6 January 1922. in Saumur.. She was the daughter and granddaughter of soldiers. After the German invasion of France in 1940 she became a courier in an underground organisation, the Zero network, and carried Resistance communications. When the Zero network was broken she joined the Comet line (le réseau Comète) and helped to smuggle Allied airmen through occupied Europe to Spain.
After the war, de Vasselot earned a degree in history from the Sorbonne and chose a life of religious commitment and education. In 1947, she joined the Saint-François-Xavier apostolic community (Communauté apostolique Saint-François-Xavier).
From 1959 to 1988, she taught in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where she founded and served as director of the Sainte-Marie secondary school, dedicating three decades to teaching there.
Death
De Vasselot died on 21 April 2025, at the age of 103.
Honours and decorations Commander of the Legion of Honour (decree of ) Officer (appointed )
Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit (elevated by decree of ) Commander (appointed )
Croix de guerre 1939–1945
French Resistance Medal (decree of )
Knight of the Order of Leopold II (Belgium)
Croix de guerre (Belgium)
Medal of Freedom (United States)
King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom (United Kingdom)
References