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Marthe Richard ( Betenfeld; 15 August 1889 in Blâmont – 9 February 1982) was a French prostitution and spy. She later became a politician, and worked towards the closing of in France in 1946.
She married Thomas Crompton in 1926. He was the financial director for the Rockefeller Foundation, and patron of the restoration of the Petit Trianon. When he died unexpectedly in 1928 in Geneva, she moved to Bougival, and lived very well.
After being released from prison, and restored to the post of commander, Captain Ladoux published his fictionalized Memoires in 1930.
The volume about Richard, Marthe Richard, spy in the French service, was mostly an invention. She claimed half of the vast royalties, and accepted the advice to write her own memoirs. Under the pseudonym of "Richard", she published the best-seller, My life as a spy in the French service (adapted as a film in 1937), and instantly became a heroine of France. Under media pressure, her lover Édouard Herriot, French Prime Minister at the time, gave the widowed Mme Crompton the Légion d'honneur for Foreign Affairs.
During World War II, her courage was admired in France, and she was hated in Germany. However, she became close to certain members of the Gestapo, including François Spirito.
When the MRP wanted to outlaw prostitution, she argued this case to the municipal council, but they refused. Then on 15 December 1945, she presented a plan for the closing of brothels in the 4th arrondissement. The proposition was passed, and they were closed within three months. Encouraged, Marthe Richard began a campaign to end prostitution in all of France. On 19 December 1945, in the newspaper Le Canard enchaîné, Pierre Bénard wrote, "Il n'y a pas d'électricité. Il n'y a pas de charbon. Il n'y a pas de vin. Il n'y a pas de pommes de terre et les sinistrés attendent toujours un toit... Fuyant ces déprimants débats, les conseillers municipaux parisiens ont consacré deux longues séances à discuter de la suppression des maisons closes. Mme Marthe Richard, l'espionne bien connue a ouvert le débat!" (English: "There is no electricity. There is no coal. There is no wine. There are no potatoes, and the disaster victims are without shelter... Fleeing these depressing times, the Parisian municipal councillors devoted two long meetings to the removal of brothels. Mme Marthe Richard, the famous spy, began the debate!"
On 9 April 1946, Marcel Roclore, Minister of State, presented the Commission's report on the population and public health, and concluded that closing the brothels was a necessity. Pierre Dominjon proposed a bill for this purpose. The bill, now known as La loi Marthe Richard, was passed with the votes of an unusual alliance of the Christian democrat MRP and the Communists..
On 13 April 1946, the prostitution registry was destroyed and 1,400 brothels were closed, including 180 in Paris. Many brothels were converted into hotels, which prostitutes continued to use. Prostitution was still legal, though many acts surrounding it were made illegal.
Meanwhile, the director of Le Crapouillot, Jean Galtier-Boissière, denounced her services to the nation, accusing her of involvement with organized crime, of smuggling jewels, and of covering up crimes. The inspector of national safety, Jacques Delarue, a specialist in false heroes of war, inquired into the accusations, and found them to be false in 1954. She was called La Veuve qui clôt ("The Widow who closes"), a pun by Antoine Blondin on the champagne Veuve Clicquot and " maisons closes" (shut or closed houses), another term for brothels.
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