On September 1, 1969, Gabrielle Russier, a 32-year-old literature teacher, committed suicide in her apartment in the northern districts of Marseille. She had been arrested, imprisoned, and tried for having a romantic relationship with one of her students, Christian Rossi, who was 17 at the time. 

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Gabrielle emerged from obscurity the day after her death. What had been a minor news item in local newspapers for several weeks became a major social debate. 

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Gabrielle was my grandmother.