Alice Milliat was the first sports leader to encourage physical activity for women in France and around the world. Born in Nantes in 1884 to grocer parents, this provincial woman of modest means was not destined for such a career.
Widowed at just 24 years old, she returned to France and settled in Paris to work. She became involved in the Fémina Sport club, one of the three Parisian sports clubs for women, of which she became president in 1915. By becoming president in 1919, Alice Milliat became the only woman in the world at the head of a national sports federation.