Sylvie Pétiaux (, Pétiaux-Hugo; after first marriage, Mathieu; after second marriage, Flammarion;

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

, Sylvio Hugo; November 28, 1836 – February 23, 1919) 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 ...

and

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

. She was the wife of the astronomer,

Camille Flammarion Nicolas Camille Flammarion FRAS (; 26 February 1842 – 3 June 1925) was a French astronomer and author. He was a prolific author of more than fifty titles, including popular science works about astronomy, several notable early science fiction ...

, and collaborator with him in much of his astronomical work. She was a

Prix Jules Janssen The Prix Jules Janssen is the highest award of the Société astronomique de France (SAF), the French astronomical society. This annual prize is given to a professional French astronomer or to an astronomer of another nationality in recognition ...

laureate in 1902.''La Vie heureuse'' (Paris), 15 juillet 1908, p. 145.
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Biography

Sylvie Pétiaux-Hugo was born in

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

on November 28, 1836. She was the daughter of Casimir-Joseph Pétiaux (1807-1883) and Marie-Stéphanie Hugo (1811-1892). She claimed to be related to

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

, but this seems to be an invention. Her sister was Zélie-Rosalie Pétiaux (1838-1873), an opera singer, wife of Count Mikhaïl Illarionovitch Moussine-Pouchkine (1836-1915), and her niece was Olga Illarionova Moussine-Pouchkine (1865-1947), a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist with the Russian imperial theaters, who became the master of a

Martinist Martinism is a form of Christian mysticism and esoteric Christianity concerned with the fall of the first man, his materialistic state of being, deprived of his own, divine source, and the process of his eventual (if not inevitable) return, cal ...

lodge in Russia. Camille Flammarion will also be linked to

Gérard Encausse Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse (13 July 1865 – 25 October 1916), whose esoteric pseudonyms were Papus and Tau Vincent, was a French physician, hypnotist, and popularizer of occultism, who founded the modern Martinist Order. Early life ...

, known as "Papus". Camille Flammarion

She married Esprit Mathieu (1810-1873) on December 31, 1859 in

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 ...

. In 1874, she married the astronomer,

with whom she had been having an affair for several years. He took her in a balloon for their

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds after their wedding to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase in a couple ...

. Pétiaux shared the same interest for astronomy as her husband. She remained for many years a devoted and assiduous collaborator in all of his work. It is at her initiative that the , rewarding eminent services rendered to the

Société astronomique de France The Société astronomique de France (SAF; ), the France, French astronomical society, is a non-profit association in the public interest organized under French law (Association loi de 1901). Founded by astronomer Camille Flammarion in 1887, its ...

, was established. In Paris, Pétiaux hosted the popular (star exhibitions). In 1889, she was the founder and active promoter of an association of women advocating peace and disarmament, (Association for peace and disarmament by women). It was the third women's peace society established in Paris. Run only by women and with only women speakers, its emphasis was on the dangers associated with the arms race. She was a speaker at the Universal Peace Congress of 1907 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Under the pseudonym of "Sylvio Hugo", she authored her husband's biography, (1891), and also wrote a novel. She died of the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

in the

14th arrondissement of Paris The 14th arrondissement of Paris ( ), officially named ''arrondissement de l'Observatoire'' (; meaning "arrondissement of the Observatory"; named after the Paris Observatory), is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of Paris, ...

on February 23, 1919, at the age of 82 years. Her tomb is located in the park of the

Camille Flammarion Observatory The observatory was established in Juvisy-sur-Orge in 1883 by the French astronomer and author Camille Flammarion. In March 2010, the structure was classified as a historical monument by the French Ministry of Culture. The observatory belongs to ...

Juvisy-sur-Orge Juvisy-sur-Orge (, literally ''Juvisy on Orge'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located southeast of Paris and a few kilometres south of Orly Airport. The city is known for Gare de Juvisy, ...

Awards and honours

Pétiaux was awarded the

in 1902, in recognition of her astronomical work and her services in behalf of the Astronomical Society of France, and the Observatory of Juvisy.

Selected works

* ''Camille Flammarion, sa vie et son oeuvre : à propos des fêtes de Montigny-le-Roi'', 1891

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petiaux, Sylvie 1836 births 1919 deaths People from Valenciennes French feminists French pacifists Women founders 19th-century biographers French biographers French women biographers Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in France