Violette Morris, fallen champion turned collaborator

In the 1920s, Violette Morris accumulates medals athleticsin football and even in course automobilewhere she faces men and women without distinction. “ She is our country's most fearless and eclectic sportswoman. », greets The sports mirrors. But the champion's style is disturbing and worrying: Violette Morris dresses like a man, speaks loudly and does not hide his homosexuality. So many elements which earned her to be removed from the federation of women's sports societies and banned from Olympic Games at the dawn of the 1930s. Violette Morris Although she may sue those who accuse her of being a bad role model for young people, she is excluded from the world of sport. Ten years later, she actively collaborated with the occupier. So, was it the resentment developed towards her country that could have pushed her into the arms ofGermany ? And to what extent Violette Morris could she have been compromised during the Second World War? Even today, the question is not resolved.

A documentary account of Margot Boutges in partnership with RetroNews the BnF website

Guest:

Anne-Cécile Genderjournalist, author and director of the documentary Violette Morris, non-infringementreleased in 2023.

Documentary Sources:

Livres :
Violette Morris, The Gestapo Hyena, Raymond Ruffin, Le-Cherche-Midi, 2004
A political history of pants, Christine Bard, Seuil, 2010
Violette Morris, Story of a Scandalist, Marie-Jo Bonnet, Perrin, 2011
In the heart of Vièvre with the Surcouf maquis: the diary of Simone Sauteur alias Puce ppublished by the Historical Society of Lisieux, 2016
Alice Milliat, The Olympic Woman, The Peregrines, 2024
The Cabin, David Aliot, Tallandier, 2024

Comic strip:
Violette Morris, volumes 1 and 2, Bertrand Galic, Kris, and Javi Rey, Futuropolis, 2018

Press and academic articles:
Press articles from the 1910s, 20s, 30s and 40s on Retronews.fr and on Gallica.bnf.fr
Violette Morris, from “eccentric” athlete to collaboration agent, Retronews, Marina Bellot, 06/30/2021
“Neither breasts, nor regulations”: The athlete Violette Morris or the trial of sexual identity between the wars, Florys Castan-Vicente, Anais Bohuon and Lucie Pallesi, Revue d'Histoire, n°152, 2022

Radio and TV documentaries:
The Violette Morris case, A special story, France Culture, 2020
Violette Morris, without infringement, Anne-Cécile Genre, 2023, 52 min, co-production Lucien TV / Histoire TV
Violette Morris, A Woman to Kill, Marie-Christine Gambart, 2024, broadcast on France 5 last June

Alone-on-stage:
VioletteChristian Morris, L'Oeillet Vert theater company

Discography:

• FREHEL La môme catch catch 1938
• Jeanne ADDED Off my back 2020
• ETIENNE DAHO The last rainy days 2024