Madeleine Pelletier

Passions

Vocation

French physician, psychiatrist, first-wave feminist, and socialist activist. In 1906, she was the first French woman to sit the examination to become a psychiatrist. She was also the first woman to work as an intern in state asylums. That year she also became secretary of La Solidarité des femmes (Women’s Solidarity), and established the organization as one of the most radical feminist organizations at the time. In 1908 she represented the group at the Hyde Park demonstrations for women’s suffrage. She published La suffragiste. In 1905, she helped to found the unified French Socialist Party (as the Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière), sat on its national council until World War I, and represented the party at most international socialist congresses before the War. She worked for the Red Cross during the War, treating the injured from both sides. Pelletier wrote extensively on the subject of women's rights, and published her autobiography "La femme vierge" ("The Virgin Woman") in 1933. She wore her hair short and was known for her cross-dressing and celibacy. Pelletier was partially paralyzed by a stroke in 1937. However, she continued to openly practice abortion, and was arrested in 1939. Following her arrest she was interned in an asylum and her physical and mental health deteriorated. She died on 29 December 1939, aged 65. Link to Wikipedia biography