Avril De Sainte-Croix
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Ghénia Avril de Sainte-Croix (pen name, Savioz; pseudonym, de Sainte-Croix; 10 February 1855 – 21 March 1939) was a French author, journalist, feminist and pacifist. For many years she led the French branch of the
International Abolitionist Federation The International Abolitionist Federation (IAF; ), founded in Liverpool in 1875, aimed to abolish state regulation of prostitution and fought the international human trafficking, traffic in women in prostitution. It was originally called the Brit ...
, which sought to abolish state regulation of prostitution and fought trafficking in women. She advised the French government and the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
on women's issues. She was vice-president of the
International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating women's rights, human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington D.C ...
from 1920 and President of the
National Council of French Women The National Council of French Women (, CNFF) is a society formed in 1901 to promote women's rights. The first members were mainly prosperous women who believed in using non-violent means to obtain rights by presenting the justice of the cause. Iss ...
from 1922 to 1932.


Life


Early years

Adrienne-Pierrette-Eugénie (Ghénia) Glaisette was born in 1855 in the village of
Carouge Carouge () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. History Carouge is first mentioned in the Early Middle Ages as ''Quadruvium'' and ''Quatruvio''. In 1248 it was mentioned as ''Carrogium'' while i ...
near Geneva, Switzerland to Marc Glaisette and Marie-Louise Savuiz. She spoke several languages and traveled widely. As a young woman she seems to have spent much time in central Europe. Her portrait by
Teodor Axentowicz Teodor Axentowicz (; 13 May 185926 August 1938) was a Polish-Armenian painter and university professor. He was also the rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. As an artist, Axentowicz was famous for his portraits and scenes of Hutsul lif ...
was exhibited in the
Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
in 1893, and published in '. She was mentioned in society newspapers. ''
The Gentlewoman ''The Gentlewoman'' was a weekly illustrated paper for women founded in 1890 and published in London. For its first thirty-six years its full title was ''The Gentlewoman: An Illustrated Weekly Journal for Gentlewomen''.Nos. 1 to 1,853 dated bet ...
'' reports her presence at a matinee dance given the Baroness de Montebello, apparently her aunt. In the mid-1890s she published a series of children's stories set in Eastern Europe. She signed the stories and her first newspaper articles "Savioz". The Parisian newspapers reported that she was present at the celebrations of the
Cuban War of Independence The Cuban War of Independence (), also known in Cuba as the Necessary War (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Litt ...
(1895–1898) organized by the Cuban colony of Paris. Sainte-Croix came from the '' haute société protestante'' (Protestant high society) and shared its philanthropic tradition. In the 1890s she began to participate in the Conference of Versailles, an annual meeting of Protestant women's charities. Representatives of social reform groups fighting pornography, alcoholism and prostitution spoke at these conferences. It was through this that she became involved in the abolitionist campaign to end government-regulated prostitution. Starting in the late 1890s she began to publish journalistic investigations into the plight of prostitutes and working women. Sainte-Croix wrote for '' La Fronde'', which was founded late in 1897, as did
Marguerite Durand Marguerite Durand (24 January 1864 – 16 March 1936) was a French stage actress, journalist, and a leading suffragette. She founded her own newspaper, and ran for election. She is also known for having a pet lion. The Bibliothèque Margueri ...
, Séverine,
Marie Bonnevial Marie Bonnevial (28 June 1841 - 4 December 1918) was a French teacher and women's rights activist. She became Grand Mistress of the Supreme Council of Le Droit Humain. Early years Marie Bonnevial was born on 28 June 1841 in Rive-de-Gier, Loire, t ...
and
Clémence Royer Clémence Royer (21 April 1830 – 6 February 1902) was a self-taught French scholar who lectured and wrote on economics, philosophy, science and feminism. She is best known for her controversial 1862 French translation of Charles Darwin's ' ...
. She published a remarkable article in this paper on the conditions in the prison of Saint-Lazare, where prostitutes were held. She spoke on the question of female journalists at the 1899 congress of the
International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating women's rights, human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington D.C ...
(ICW) in London. Eugénie Glaisette married the civil engineer François Avril in a civil ceremony in May 1900 when she was aged 45. They lived at 1 avenue Malakoff (now avenue Raymond Poincaré) in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, in an apartment overlooking the place du Trocadéro. The marriage did nothing to reduce her activism. No doubt it was due to her husband that she was able to hold several feminist meetings in the Civil Engineers premises at 19 rue Blanche.


Feminist leader

Sainte-Croix headed the French branch of the
International Abolitionist Federation The International Abolitionist Federation (IAF; ), founded in Liverpool in 1875, aimed to abolish state regulation of prostitution and fought the international human trafficking, traffic in women in prostitution. It was originally called the Brit ...
(IAF) for many years from 1900, while also acting as secretary general of the National Council of French Women ('; CNFF) from 1903 onward. She founded the halfway house (Liberating Work) in 1901 to help young women leave prostitution after their release from prison. The charity gave them education, job training and long term counselling. In 1904 she spoke in Zurich and Geneva on the subject of trafficking in women. Between 1904 and 1908 she was a member of a government commission to investigate the activities of the vice squad. She was the only woman to serve on this commission. From 1905 to 1907 Sainte-Croix was a member of the independent Coulon-Chavagnes commission that studied the marital laws in France, under which women were disadvantaged, with a view to overhauling the civil code. She was a founding member and member of the board of the League of Human Rights and the Citizen ('). Sainte-Croix published a stream of articles promoting the cause of women. In 1907 she published a book entitled ' in which she refuted the arguments of Catholics and nationalists that feminism was "un-French". She made the case that the movement had its roots in the fight for liberty of the French Revolution. During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
(1914–1918) Sainte-Croix supported the war effort by founding canteens to feed women working in the war industries. In 1917 she was appointed to the Committee on Women's Employment to advise the government on women workers. She founded and became chairperson of the women's section of the ''
Musée social The ''Musée social'' () was a private French institution founded in 1894. In the early twentieth century it became an important center of research into topics such as city planning, social housing and labor organization. For many years it played ...
'', and in 1918–19 went on a trip to the United States for the ''Musée'' to investigate part-time work for women in four American cities. During this trip she met President
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
and former President
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
. After World War I she traveled in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary and Romania. In 1920 she became vice-president of the ICW and in 1922 she became president of the CNFF. Sainte-Croix attended and spoke at congresses in London, Berlin, Geneva, Rome, Kristiana (Oslo), Bucharest, Vienna, Spain and the US. In the 1920s and 1930s she was internationally recognized as the leading feminist in France. In April 1922 she was appointed to the Standing Advisory Committee of the League of Nations on trafficking of women and children. She was also appointed to the League's commission for the protection of children. From 1925 she was delegate to the League of Nations for the Joint Standing Committee of Women's International Organizations. She was named ' and ' of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
, and received medals from the ministries of health and hygiene. By the time the States General of Feminism was held in 1931 Avril de Sainte-Croix was 76 years old, and exhausted. She died after a short illness in March 1939 in
Menton Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...
on the French Riviera. She was aged 84.


Organizer


International Abolitionist Federation

In 1897
Josephine Butler Josephine Elizabeth Butler (; 13 April 1828 – 30 December 1906) was an English feminist and social reformer in the Victorian era. She campaigned for women's suffrage, the right of women to better education, the end of coverture in B ...
visited France, and a group led by Auguste de Morsier initiated re-foundation of a French branch of the International Abolitionist Federation (IAF) which campaigned for revocation of laws that regulated prostitution. The new organization was represented officially at the international abolitionist conference in London in 1898. Sainte-Croix attended this conference, where she met Butler. Between 1898 and 1907 the abolitionist movement in France revived, led first by Auguste de Morsier and then by Ghénia Avril de Sainte-Croix. Sainte-Croix and other feminists thought the regulation of prostitution was amoral in tolerating vice and enforcing a double standard of morality, and also unjust and ineffective. She saw prostitutes as "female serfs". She strongly advocated increasing women's wages so they would no longer be forced to sell their bodies, and creating a strict code of morality that would apply equally to men and women. In September 1899 she participated in an IAF conference in Geneva, and reported on the proceedings in ''La Fronde''. At the Congress on Women's Rights in 1900 she read one of the three opening reports, calling for abolition of legalized prostitution and of the double standard of morality. She became secretary-general of the French branch of the IAF in 1900, and remained active in the movement until the mid-1930s.


National Council of French Women (CNFF)

Etats généraux du féminisme 1929. Sainte-Croix is in the front row, center, looking towards the right. In March 1900 Sainte-Croix organized a banquet at the Grand Hôtel de Paris in honor of the feminist scholar
Clémence Royer Clémence Royer (21 April 1830 – 6 February 1902) was a self-taught French scholar who lectured and wrote on economics, philosophy, science and feminism. She is best known for her controversial 1862 French translation of Charles Darwin's ' ...
, whom she greatly admired. In 1900 she presided over the "Work" section of the Congress of Female Works and Institutions, where she argued passionately for equality of male and female pay and for strong laws on child labor. From 1902 she was a strong advocate of women's suffrage in the National Council of French Women (CNFF). In 1903 Sainte-Croix was secretary general of the CNFF and also of the French branch of the IAF, which she ran from her home at 1 Avenue Malakoff. In 1919 Sainte-Croix and the CNFF engaged in a campaign to convince the Allied leaders at the
Versailles Peace Conference The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines Department of Île-de-France region in France. The palace is owned by the government of F ...
to address women and their problems in the charter of the new
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
, with partial success. The CNFF also worked to convince the French senators to pass the bill for women's suffrage. Sainte-Croix organized the CNFF congress in Strasbourg in October 1919. In 1922 she succeeded Julie Siegfried as president of the CNFF, holding this position until 1932 when she was replaced by
Marguerite Pichon-Landry Marguerite Pichon-Landry (; 1877–1972) was a French feminist who was president of the National Council of French Women from 1932 to 1952. Early years Marguerite Landry was born in 1877 to a family of radical socialist intellectuals. Her mother ...
. Sainte-Croix campaigned in 1927 to have women admitted to the police force. She presided over the CNFF's États-Généraux du Féminisme congresses in 1929, 1930 and 1931. These congresses focused in successive years on women's legal rights, economic standing and position in the colonies.


International Council of Women (ICW)

In 1899 Sainte-Croix assisted at a conference of the
International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating women's rights, human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington D.C ...
(ICW), which was headed by Lady Aberdeen. In 1904 she attended the ICW meetings in Berlin with
Marguerite Durand Marguerite Durand (24 January 1864 – 16 March 1936) was a French stage actress, journalist, and a leading suffragette. She founded her own newspaper, and ran for election. She is also known for having a pet lion. The Bibliothèque Margueri ...
and
Sarah Monod Sarah Monod (24 June 1836 – 13 December 1912) was a French Protestant philanthropist and feminist. Early years Alexandrine Elisabeth Sarah Monod was born on 24 June 1836 in Lyon. She was the fourth of seven children of the evangelical church ...
, where she spoke of the support the CNFF was giving to working women. That year she chaired the ICW committee of White Slave Traffic and Equal Moral Standard. In 1906 she received Lady Aberdeen and the leaders of the ICW in Paris. Sainte-Croix attended the ICW congress in Rome in 1914. In 1920 she was elected vice president of the ICW at the congress in Kristiana, Norway. Sainte-Croix made a tour of Europe in 1924, then returned via Canada to the United States in 1925 for the sixth ICW conference in Washington, D.C. In 1930 she attended the ICW congress in Vienna.


Religion and politics

It is not clear whether Sainte-Croix was Protestant or simply associated with Protestants. She was not a practicing Protestant, and described herself as a free thinker. She was anti-Catholic, but in favor of religious freedom. She has belonged to the International and mixed Masonic Order
Le Droit Humain The International Order of Freemasonry ''Le Droit Humain'' is a global Masonic order, membership of which is available to men and women on equal terms, regardless of nationality, religion or ethnicity. This practice is known as Co-Freemasonry ...
which included other feminists mentioned above. She was a strong supporter of
Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French Army officer best known for his central role in the Dreyfus affair. In 1894, Dreyfus fell victim to a judicial conspiracy that eventually sparked a major political crisis in the Fre ...
during the Dreyfus affair. Despite being an advocate of working women, Sainte-Croix was hostile to socialism or communism, unlike activists such as
Louise Saumoneau Louise Saumoneau (17 December 1875 – 23 February 1950) was a French feminist who later renounced feminism as being irrelevant to the class struggle. She became a union leader and a prominent socialist. During World War I she was active in the in ...
and Louise Bodin. She thought that all women should show solidarity regardless of their class, and well-off women should assist the poorer women. She saw poverty as one of the main causes of prostitution, and thought women should be given enough pay to meet their needs, but was against legislation to protect workers. From 1900 she spoke in opposition to state intervention in women's work. After the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
in 1917 she wrote several articles that criticized "collectivization" of women by the Bolsheviks.


Publications

Publications include: * * * * * * *


See also

*
List of peace activists This list of peace activists includes people who have proactively advocated Diplomacy, diplomatic, philosophical, and non-military resolution of major territorial or ideological disputes through nonviolent means and methods. Peace activists usua ...


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sainte-Croix, Adrienne Avril de 1855 births 1939 deaths French feminists French pacifists People from Carouge French writers Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers