Eugénie Potonié-Pierre (5 November 1844 – 12 June 1898
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
) was a French
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
who founded the Federation of French Feminist Societies in 1892.
She joined the Society for the Amelioration of Women's Condition with
Léon Richer and
Maria Deraismes in the 1870s. She served as the secretary and wrote for the organization's publication ''
Le Droit des femmes (Women's Rights)''.
In 1880, with
Léonie Rouzade
Léonie Rouzade, born Louise-Léonie Camusat (1839–1916) was a French feminist, politician, journalist and author. An active supporter of women's rights, in 1880 together with Eugénie Pierre, she founded the ''Union des femmes'', the first soci ...
, she founded Union des Femmes.
She was secretary of the committee of the International Congress for Women's Rights, in 1892, and 1896. In her speech to the International Congress of 1896 in Berlin, Potonié-Pierre credited herself and French feminist peers with coining the term ''féminisme''.
Death
She died 12 June 1898, from a cerebral hemorrhage at age 54. She is buried in
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world.
Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...
.
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References
French feminists
1844 births
1898 deaths
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