Marie Durand @museum.de

A single word, incised into the stone replica in the display case, tells of the life of an indomitable fighter in the Wars of Religion, of her inner strength and her profound trust in God.
The Huguenot Marie Durand scratched "résister", the French word for "resist", into a stone at the women's prison of Aigues Mortes.
Marie Durand was born in Bouchet in the South of France in 1711. She grew up as a Reformed Christian and was just 19 when she was arrested for her faith – like her brother Pierre, a priest who died as a martyr in 1732.
Foto: 12.2.JPG
Marie Durand was sent to the women's prison in the tower of Aigues Mortes, where she spent 38 years of her life. A single word to renounce her faith, and she would have been free.
But she never faltered. "Résister", "resist", scored into the stone, a copy of which is on display here, reflects her courageous stand in the War of Religion.
In the women's prison, Marie Durand shared a tiny, cramped space with between 20 and 40 other Huguenot women, in half light behind walls that were metres thick. Many of the women died from the cold, the damp and from starvation. Marie Durand devotedly cared for her fellow inmates and fought for their rights. From prison, she wrote letters and sent them abroad, begging for support. Even Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, lobbied for her release, but in vain.
Finally, at the age of 57, after almost 38 years in prison, Marie Durand was released and returned to her home village. She lived there for another 8 years in a community of other former inmates.
In France, Marie Durand is famous to this day for her extraordinary courage. The "résister" inscription is seen as a symbol of defiant protest. It's reflected in the name of the civil opposition movement during the Second World War – the French Resistance.