Who was Olympe de Gouges?

2024-03-08T04:16:54.311Z

Highlights: On the occasion of International Women's Rights Day, Virginie Girod introduces you to a pioneer in the fight for female emancipation: Olympe de Gouges. In the company of Cécile Berly, historian specializing in the 18th century and author of the book Guillotinées, she looks back on the many battles waged by this heroine of the French Revolution who had long been forgotten. “She is one of the few, if not the only one, to question this question of the universality of this revolution: where are the women? (...) Are they condemned to be citizens without citizenship?” traces Berly.

On the occasion of International Women's Rights Day, Virginie Girod introduces you to a pioneer in the fight for female emancipation: Olympe de Gouges! In the company of Cécile Berly, historian specializing in the 18th century and author of the book Guillotinées (published by Passés Composés), she looks back on the many battles waged by this heroine of the French Revolution who had long been forgotten. Women of letters, Olympe de Gouges put her pen at the service of her convictions. In 1791, she published her famous Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizens. “She is one of the few, if not the only one, to question this question of the universality of this revolution: where are the women? (...) Are they condemned to be citizens without citizenship?” traces Cécile Berly. “Olympe will confront the Revolution and those who made it, mostly men, with all their contradictions.” 18th century society was profoundly unequal. Reduced to the role of mother or wife, women are “eternal minors” to whom we grant “no political rights, including at the heart of the Revolution,” explains Cécile Berly. With her declaration, Olympe de Gouges calls for equal rights between men and women. She is so avant-garde that the word “feminism” does not yet exist! This is not her only fight: Olympe de Gouges fights for equality in general. Opposed to slavery and the slave trade, she also reflects on the place of the elderly and the indigent in our society, which again is revolutionary. However, she did not succeed in making her ideas triumph during her lifetime. Olympe de Gouges was guillotined during the Terror for her proximity to the Girondins. For a long time, the pioneer of French feminists remained in the shadows of History, victim of harsh criticism. "What haven't we said about her? She has been attacked a lot on the fact that she was an illiterate woman of letters, obviously on her morals. That is to say that since she is free , she is necessarily libertine” explains Cécile Berly. Today, his bust sits in the National Assembly, before, perhaps, an entry into the Pantheon. Themes covered: feminism, French Revolution, Olympe de Gouges, women's rights