Madeleine Cavalier, also known in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

by her nickname "signorina francese", born on June 27, 1928, is a French

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

er at the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

(CNRS). Throughout her long career, she focused primarily on the

Aeolian Islands The Aeolian Islands ( ; ; ), sometimes referred to as the Lipari Islands or Lipari group ( , ) after their largest island, are a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily, said to be named after Aeolus, the mythical ruler of ...

, conducting extensive excavations there. Together with

Luigi Bernabò Brea Luigi Bernabò Brea (Genoa, Genua, 27 September 1910 – Lipari, 4 February 1999) was an Italian archaeologist. Together with Madeleine Cavalier, a very close collaborator who was briefly his wife, he was responsible for the establishment of the ...

, a very close collaborator who was briefly her

husband A husband is a man involved in a marital relationship, commonly referred to as a spouse. The specific rights, responsibilities, and societal status attributed to a husband can vary significantly across different cultures and historical perio ...

, she was responsible for the establishment of the Aeolian Archaeological Museum of

Lipari Lipari (; ) is a ''comune'' including six of seven islands of the Aeolian Islands (Lipari, Vulcano, Panarea, Stromboli, Filicudi and Alicudi) and it is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, Southern Italy; it is ...

Biography

She was born on June 27, 1928, in Vacquières,

Hérault Hérault (; , ) is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault (river), Hérault River, its Prefectures in France, prefecture is M ...

. Despite not obtaining her

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

, it didn't prevent her from pursuing studies at the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier () is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous opera ...

without obtaining a degree. She later directed the excavations of

Milazzo Milazzo (; ; ) is a municipality () in the Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, southern Italy. It is the largest municipality in the Metropolitan City after Messina and Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto. The town has a population of around 31,500 inh ...

in 1951–1952. In the same year, she became the secretary-general of the French section of the International Institute of Ligurian Studies. Subsequently, she was hired as a research associate at

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

and, with the assistance of the French School of Athens and the French Institute of Lebanon, undertook a series of excavations in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. She conducted excavations in

Lemnos Lemnos ( ) or Limnos ( ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos (regional unit), Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean modern regions of Greece ...

, among other places. The fruit of her research during this period in Greece focused on the relationships between

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

cultures in

and the

. This work is detailed in an article dating back to 1960. The Aeolian Islands were actually the preferred subject of Madeleine Cavalier's study, and she devoted a significant part of her scientific output to them. Through the analysis of excavated

amphora An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...

e and workshops, she discovered, for example, that the island of

derived its economic prosperity from the production of

alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , such that is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium ...

, which was then stored in amphorae for sale and transportation. It was one of the few non-food products transported in amphorae at the time. Her work was also crucial for understanding the unique

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

aspects of the Aeolian Islands, both in relation to

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. She married her colleague

for a season, but the marriage did not last. Nevertheless, the two continued to be close professional collaborators until Luigi Bernabo Brea's death. The opening of CNRS after the political changes following

May 68 May 68 () was a period of widespread protests, strikes, and civil unrest in France that began in May 1968 and became one of the most significant social uprisings in modern European history. Initially sparked by student demonstrations agains ...

allowed her to join the institution even without a diploma or the baccalauréat, and she gradually climbed the ranks of the institution. In 1980–1981, she conducted excavations in San Vincenzo on the island of

Stromboli Stromboli ( , ; ) is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily, containing Mount Stromboli, one of the four active volcanoes in Italy. It is one of the seven Aeolian Islands, a volcanic arc north of Sicily, and the mytho ...

. In Italy, she earned the nickname "signorina francese" among the Italian population, meaning the 'French damsel', during her field research. However, her research was not limited to

. For example, in 2009, she published "''Les petites mains''", a work dedicated to her ancestors in the town of Vacquières. In 1985, she was awarded the

CNRS Silver Medal The CNRS Silver Medal is a scientific award given every year to about fifteen researchers by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). It is awarded to a researcher for "the originality, quality and importance of their work, re ...

for her research and academic work. She became a commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic on 12 April 1999 and was honored with the

Order of Arts and Letters The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

in 2007. She also co-founded the Aeolian Archaeological Museum of Lipari with

Legacy

En 2003,

Pierre Vidal-Naquet Pierre Emmanuel Vidal-Naquet (; 23 July 193029 July 2006) was a French historian who began teaching at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in 1969. Vidal-Naquet was a specialist in the study of Ancient Greece, but was als ...

revisited her figure, crediting her as having been an "extraordinary woman" and connecting her to his own vocation as a historian. In 2018, a book in her honor was published, featuring contributions from numerous researchers, including Maria Bernabò Brea and Massimo Cultraro.

Decorations

Commander of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

(Italy) *

(France) *

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Chevalier ribbon

Knight of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

(France)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavalier, Madeleine 1928 births Living people Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic 21st-century French women scientists 20th-century French women scientists French National Centre for Scientific Research awards Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 20th-century French archaeologists French women archaeologists French women historians Sicily Research directors of the French National Centre for Scientific Research