Yvette Chassagne
Yvette Madeleine Chassagne was a French civil servant. She was the first woman to hold the position of prefect in France.
Life
The daughter of André Brunetière and Lily Barrière, she was born Yvette Madeleine Brunetière in Bordeaux and originally wanted to become an archaeologist.From 1943 to 1944, during the German [military administration in occupied France during World War II|German occupation of France], she was part of a French Resistance network that produced false identity papers and warned Jewish families of impending raids.
After the war, she was one of the three first women to enter the École nationale d'administration. Chassagne next worked as a civil administrator for the French Ministry of the [Armed Forces |Ministry of the Armed Forces]. She then was employed by the Insurance division at the French Ministry for [the Economy and Finance|Ministry of Finance], later becoming assistant director and then "conseiller maître" at the Court of Audit.
In 1981, she was named prefect for Loir-et-Cher by François Mitterrand. After leaving that post, she was president of the from 1983 to 1987. She subsequently served as president of the. From 1988 to 1994, she served as advisor to the president of Club Med. She was elected to the municipal council for Narbonne in 2001.
She married Jean Chassagne; the couple had two children but later divorced.