Jacqueline Pery was born on 20 December 1919 in Prissé-la-Charrière, Deux-Sèvres, France. She was previously married to Pierre Péry and Joseph de Lorne d'Alincourt.
War widow, she became part of a Résistance group. Captured, she was sent to Ravensbruck where she met Germaine Tillon, Geneviève de Gaulle and Anise Postel-Vinay.