Sarah Monod
| Sarah Monod | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Alexandrine Elisabeth Sarah Monod 24 June 1836 Lyon, France |
| Died | 13 December 1912 (aged 76) Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Philanthropist and feminist |
Sarah Monod (24 June 1836 – 13 December 1912) was a French Protestant philanthropist and feminist.
Alexandrine Elisabeth Sarah Monod was born on 24 June 1836 in Lyon. She was the fourth of seven children of the evangelical church pastor of Lyon Adolphe Monod and his wife Hannah Honyman. She was baptized on 24 July 1836. Her godfather was her uncle Edouard Monod, a merchant at Le Havre, and her godmothers were her paternal aunts Eliza and Betsy Monod.
There are few sources about Sarah Monod's childhood. She would have taken private lessons, including Italian and German in addition to English, her mother's language, which she spoke fluently. She also took care of the education of her younger sister Camille, nine years her junior. In the summer she stayed with her sister Émilie in England or with the family of Pastor Puaux in Normandy. From childhood she was a friend of Louise Puaux and Julie Puaux, future co-workers in the National Council of French women (Conseil national des femmes françaises).
Sarah Monod was very close to her father, who died in 1855 when she was nineteen. After working with him towards the end of his life, she tried to collect his works. She published "The Farewell of Adolphe Monod to his friends and the Church", several volumes of sermons, a collection of letters and a biography of her father. She wrote a short biography of sister Caroline Malvesin, founder of the Diaconesses de Reuilly, a charitable Protestant foundation in Paris.
Her pious education was later very evident in her speeches. She was said by the journalist Jane Misme to be dressed as a Quaker and the "Pope of Protestantism."
The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 was a turning point in the life of Sarah Monod. On the death of her mother in 1868, she approached the Diaconesses de Reuilly in Paris. It is thanks to her involvement with the Diaconesses de Reuilly that she left on 3 August 1870 for the front of Forbach fifteen days after the declaration of war. The "Monod" mobile ambulance set up at the instigation of the Auxiliary Evangelical Committee for Relief of wounded and sick soldiers, treated more than 1,500 wounded between 3 August 1870 and 3 March 1871, including casualties of the battles of Daucourt and Beaumont.
After the defeat of Sedan, Sarah Monod went to London to raise funds and equipment, then returned to France and the ambulance to treat victims of the campaign of the Loire. On 2 July 1871 she was awarded a Bronze Cross for her service and as an Ambulance Inspector. A few months later, she brought aid to more wounded, those of the Paris Commune, regardless of which side they were on.
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