Vansteenberghe was born in
Saint-Étienne. Her parents were teachers. She studied at the
Lyon Faculty of Medicine to obtain her doctorate. There she met André Vansteenberghe - another medical student on her course - and they married at Lyon's town hall on 21 October 1929. In December 1932, they moved into a large flat at 3 avenue Aristide-Briand, where they also held their general practice. Additionally, Vansteenberghe gave pre-natal advice and medical consultations for infants in the dispensary located in the
Palais du Travail in Lyon. She and her husband joined the
communist party and she became a freemason in the "Evolution and Concord Lodge". In 1940, she worked as a medical inspector of schools, initially as her husband's replacement after he was called up as a medical officer in the French
6th Army. She was joined by him in the role when he left the army after being wounded, before their communist background led to their dismissal in July 1941 under a new
Vichy regime law. That July, they became part of the
French resistance under the influence of
Jean-Pierre Lévy and worked together to produce
Le Franc-Tireur, the underground newspaper of the movement with the same name.
Claudius Billon recruited them directly into the resistance army. They were suspected of being part of the movement, were twice reported by the mayor of
Villeurbanne (the area where they lived) to the medical authorities. They exchanged secret messages with
London and received materials sent from England by parachute; her code-name was "Geneviève Prunier" and her husband's was "Michel". They were visited in their home by leading Resistance leaders including
Henry Frenay,
Yvon Morandat,
Antoine Avinin and
Jean Moulin, the latter sent by
Charles de Gaulle in London. As well as treating wounded resistance fighters, they falsified medical evidence to help young men avoid conscription as compulsory labour in Germany. In 1943, they joined the
Gallia-RPA network. French police raided their flat in September and questioned them but they were released. On 24 April 1944, the
Gestapo raided the flat looking for hidden Jews. They hid in Beaujolais before secretly resuming activity in central Lyon. Vansteenberghe became the chief medical officer of the resistance. Vansteenberghe was captured on the street on 5 August 1944. While detained in
Montluc prison, she was tortured by the Gestapo, sometimes by its local chief, Klaus Barbie. Her nails were pulled out and she was beaten, resulting in broken fingers and five broken vertebrae which disabled her permanently. She did not give up any information to her captors. The prison was liberated on 24 August 1944. André Vansteenberghe found that their flat had been looted, but the couple continued their practice after the war. Based on the testimony of Vansteenberghe and others, Barbie was eventually found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison. ==Awards==