This article is to share the history and details of women in the French Senate.
Women have been able to serve in political office in France since 1944. [1] In 1997, only 5.9% of senators were women. [1] In 2015, 25% of senators were women. [2]
In mid-1999, an amendment was added to the French Constitution mandating gender parity in electoral candidates for senators. [3]
General de Gualle declared in June 23, 1942 that "all men and women will elect the National Assembly". Marthe Simard and Lucie Aubrac were appointed members of the Provisional Consultative Assembly of Algiers: [4] . From 1944-1945, 16 women sat as delegates to this assembly [5] Lucie Aubrac, Madeleine Braun, Gilberte Brossolette, Marie Couette [ fr ], Claire Davinroy, Andrée Defferre-Aboulker , Alice Delaunay , Martha Desrumaux , Annie Hervé , Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux, Mathilde Gabriel-Péri, Pauline Ramart, Marthe Simard, Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier, Marianne Verger , and Andrée Viénot.
In 1946, 6.69% of senators were women, and the percentage decreased until only 1.4% in 1971. As a result of the law of parity, in 2021 women made up a third of the senators. [6]
Election | Number of women | Total number of senators | Percentage |
---|---|---|---|
1946 | 21 | 314 | 6.7% |
1971 | 4 | 283 | 1.4% |
2001 | 35 | 321 | 10.9% |
2004 | 60 | 331 | 18.1% |
2008 | 75 | 343 | 21.9% |
2011 | 77 | 348 | 22.1% |
2014 | 87 | 348 | 25.0% |
2017 | 115 | 348 | 31.8% |
2020 | 121 | 348 | 34.8% |
Name | Term | Region | Party |
---|---|---|---|
Marthe Simard | Resistance Representative | ||
Lucie Aubrac [8] | 1944 | Resistance Representative | |
Jane Vialle [9] [10] | 1947-1948 | Ubangui-Chari | APEAN; Association for Evolution of Black Africa |
Éugénie Éboué [10] | 1946-1948 | Guadeloupe | Socialist Party, RFP |
Jacqueline Alduy | 1982-1983 | Pyrénées-Orientales | Not Affiliated |
Viviane Artigalas [11] | 2017- | Hautes-Pyrénées | Socialist Party |
French Guiana is not a separate territory but is both an overseas région and overseas department of France, with the same government institutions as areas on the French mainland. The administrative center is Cayenne.
The Senate is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators elected by part of the country's local councillors, as well as by representatives of French citizens living abroad. Senators have six-year terms, with half of the seats up for election every three years.
Lucie Samuel, born Lucie Bernard, and better known as Lucie Aubrac, was a French history teacher and member of the French Resistance during World War II. In 1938, she earned an agrégation of history, and in 1939 she married Raymond Samuel, who became known as Raymond Aubrac during the war.
Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie was a French journalist, politician and member of the French Resistance.
Raymond Aubrac was a leader of the French Resistance during the Second World War and a civil engineer after the World War II.
Libération-sud was a resistance group active between 1940-1944 and created in the Free Zone of France during the Second World War in order to fight against the Nazi occupation through coordinated sabotage and propaganda operations.
Rose Francine Rogombé was a Gabonese politician who was Acting President of Gabon from June 2009 to October 2009, following the death of long-time President Omar Bongo. She constitutionally succeeded Bongo due to her role as President of the Senate, a post to which she was elected in February 2009. She was a lawyer by profession and a member of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG). Rogombé was the first female head of state of Gabon. After her interim presidency, she returned to her post as President of the Senate.
Eugenie Eboue-Tell was a politician from French Guiana who was elected to the French Senate in 1946 and reelected in 1948. She was the first black woman elected to the French National Assembly.
Women in the French Resistance played an important role in the context of resistance against occupying German forces during World War II. Women represented 15 to 20% of the total number of French Resistance fighters within the country. Women also represented 15% of political deportations to Nazi concentration camps.
Rose Marie Louise Simard, is a lawyer, executive, and former politician in Saskatchewan, Canada. She represented Regina Lakeview (1986–91) and Regina Hillsdale (1991–95) in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan as a New Democratic Party (NDP) member.
Esther Benbassa is a French-Turkish-Israeli historian and politician. She specializes in the history of Jews and other minorities. Since 2011, Benbassa has served as a French senator, representing Paris from 2017 onwards and Val-de-Marne from 2011 to 2017.
Marie-Thérèse Auffray was a French painter and fighter in the French Resistance during World War II. She began her career in the 14th arrondissement of Paris and was known for her expressionist works. She remained independent of the art market, whose mercantile codes she always rejected.
Maud Olivier is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party, she was a Deputy for the Essonne's 5th constituency, General Councillor for the Canton of Les Ulis and Mayor of Les Ulis.
The Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and TechnologicalChoices is responsible for informing the French Parliament of the consequences of scientific and technological choices in order to inform its decisions. It collects information, implements study programs and carries out evaluations. It plays the role of interlocutor recognized by the entire scientific community. It has thus established a partnership with the French Academy of Sciences and has a regular contact with other academies and major research organizations. Being the only parliamentary office, it is also called more briefly “Parliamentary Office” or “Office”.
Marthe Marie Amélie Angèle Simard née Caillaud, later Reid-Simard, was a Franco-Canadian politician.
Bagneux–Lucie Aubrac is a Paris Métro station in Bagneux, Hauts-de-Seine. It is the southern terminus of Line 4, and was built as part of a two-station southward extension from Mairie de Montrouge, the previous terminus of the line. The adjacent station is Barbara. The station opened in January 2022. In future, the station will be served by Paris Métro Line 15.
Marie-Laure Phinera-Horth is a French politician, who was the first woman from French Guiana to be appointed to the French Senate in 2020. Prior to her role as a senator, she was mayor of Cayenne from 2010.
A Companion of Liberation is a member of the Order of the Liberation, created on November 16, 1940 by General de Gaulle as "leader of the Free French" to "reward the people or military and civilian communities who have distinguished themselves in the work of liberation of France and its empire".
Andrée Jacob was a member of the French Resistance during the Second World War. Initially working in publishing, she played an active part in the French Resistance during the Second World War. Post war she became a journalist for the newspaper Le Monde, and worked to preserve Parisian cultural heritage. She was the partner of fellow Resistance member Éveline Garnier and the cousin of the artist Max Jacob.