Michèle Firk

Born

1937-04-18

Died

1968-09-07

Birthplace

Paris, France

Biography

Michèle Firk was a journalist, film critic, aspiring director and communist activist involved in various liberation struggles in the second half of the 20th century. A Jewish woman who survived WW2 as a child, she helped smuggle weapons to Algerian freedom fighters, flew to Cuba and Guatemala to take part in the Latin American revolutions, all while screening many censored anticolonialist movies in her home country. She killed herself four months after the May 1968 uprising erupted in France, as she was about to get arrested and tortured in Guatemala City, Guatemala. She liked warm climates, dancing, and reflecting in her diary.