Isabelle Letellier, a French climate activist and university lecturer in Stockholm, poses for a portrait in the living room of the house she shares with her partner and their two sons in a neighborhood in western Stockholm. LOULOU D'AKI FOR M LE MAGAZINE DU MONDE
On September 17, 2023, Isabelle Letellier left her home in western Stockholm early in the morning. Active for just over four years with the group Scientist Rebellion, a branch of the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion, the university lecturer – who holds a PhD in psychology – was due to meet others at Bromma airport, three kilometers from her home, to join a protest against private jets, which are major emitters of CO₂. Her sons, now 9 and 11, had a basketball game and a birthday party that afternoon. She expected to be home by lunchtime. But nothing went as planned.
With curly hair and round glasses, sitting in her living room with books lining the walls, 43-year-old Letellier recalled the moment everything changed. There were 17 activists that day, gathered in the parking lot in front of the private jet terminal. She was holding a banner calling for a ban on private jets when two of her fellow activists threw red paint on a hangar and a jet. Armed police arrived and placed all the demonstrators under arrest.
