Madeleine Pelletier
Encyclopedia
Madeleine Pelletier was a French
physician
, psychiatrist
, first-wave feminist, and socialist activist.
Pelletier originally trained as an anthropologist studying the relationship between skull size
and intelligence after Paul Broca
with Charles Letourneau and Léonce Manouvrier. When she left anthropology she attacked the concept of skull size as a determinant of intelligence distinguishing the sexes. Following her break with anthropology Pelletier went on to become a psychiatrist. 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 asylum
s.
Outside her professional life, Pelletier was a committed activist. As a teenager, Pelletier attended feminist and anarchist
groups. By 1900 Pelletier was actively involved in feminism and socialist activism. In 1906 she became secretary of La Solidarité des femmes (Women’s Solidarity), and established the organisation 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.
During this period she also helped to found the unified French Socialist Party
(as the Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière
) in 1905, 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.
She was also notable as a female Freemason
. Pelletier was a member of the La Nouvelle Jérusalem lodge
, becoming a member in 1904. The lodge had both male and female members, and, although politically active, she was often at odds with her lodge in her efforts to promote the emancipation of women. Her views in favor of birth control and abortion were closely aligned with the French neo-Malthusian movement, supporting the use of birth control
and abortion
by women, she also wrote for the periodical Le Néo-Malthusian.
Pelletier wrote extensively on the subject of women's rights
, some publications include: La femme en lutte pour ses droits ("Woman Struggling for Her Rights") (1908), Idéologie d'hier: Dieu, la morale, la patrie ("Yesterday's Ideology: God, Morals, the Fatherland") (1910), L'émancipation sexuelle de la femme ("Sexual Emancipation
of Women") (1911), Le Droit à l'avortement ("The Right to Abortion") (1913), and L'éducation féministe des filles ("The Feminist Education of Girls") (1914).
Pelletier displayed her beliefs in her dress and social behavior. She wore her hair short and was known for her cross-dressing
and celibacy
. Her actions were perceived by her contemporaries as a challenge to gender-identity. She wrote of her image, "I will show off mine [breasts] when men adopt a special sort of trouser to show off their...".
She traveled illegally to the Soviet Union
in 1921, wrote Mon voyage aventureux en Russie communiste ("My Adventurous Voyage in Communist Russia"), first published in La Voix de la Femme ("The Woman's Voice") at the end of 1921, and published as a separate volume in 1922. She joined the French Communist Party
upon its creation, but left it in 1926; following her break with Communism
she embraced Anarchism
. Pelletier wrote utopia
n novels following her return from the Soviet state, as well as her autobiography La femme vierge ("The Virgin Woman") in 1933.
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 within the year.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, first-wave feminist, and socialist activist.
Pelletier originally trained as an anthropologist studying the relationship between skull size
Neuroscience and intelligence
Neuroscience and intelligence concerns the various neurological factors that may be responsible for the variation of intelligence within a species or between different species. Much of the work in this field is concerned with the variation in human intelligence, but other intelligent species such...
and intelligence after Paul Broca
Paul Broca
Pierre Paul Broca was a French physician, surgeon, anatomist, and anthropologist. He was born in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, Gironde. He is best known for his research on Broca's area, a region of the frontal lobe that has been named after him. Broca’s Area is responsible for articulated language...
with Charles Letourneau and Léonce Manouvrier. When she left anthropology she attacked the concept of skull size as a determinant of intelligence distinguishing the sexes. Following her break with anthropology Pelletier went on to become a psychiatrist. 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
Intern
Internship is a system of onthejob training for white-collar jobs, similar to an apprenticeship. Interns are usually college or university students, but they can also be high school students or post graduate adults seeking skills for a new career. They may also be as young as middle school or in...
in state asylum
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
s.
Outside her professional life, Pelletier was a committed activist. As a teenager, Pelletier attended feminist and anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
groups. By 1900 Pelletier was actively involved in feminism and socialist activism. In 1906 she became secretary of La Solidarité des femmes (Women’s Solidarity), and established the organisation 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.
During this period she also helped to found the unified French Socialist Party
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
(as the Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière
Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière
The French Section of the Workers' International , founded in 1905, was a French socialist political party, designed as the local section of the Second International...
) in 1905, sat on its national council until World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, 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.
She was also notable as a female Freemason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
. Pelletier was a member of the La Nouvelle Jérusalem lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
, becoming a member in 1904. The lodge had both male and female members, and, although politically active, she was often at odds with her lodge in her efforts to promote the emancipation of women. Her views in favor of birth control and abortion were closely aligned with the French neo-Malthusian movement, supporting the use of birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
and abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
by women, she also wrote for the periodical Le Néo-Malthusian.
Pelletier wrote extensively on the subject of women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
, some publications include: La femme en lutte pour ses droits ("Woman Struggling for Her Rights") (1908), Idéologie d'hier: Dieu, la morale, la patrie ("Yesterday's Ideology: God, Morals, the Fatherland") (1910), L'émancipation sexuelle de la femme ("Sexual Emancipation
Sexual revolution
The sexual revolution was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the 1960s into the 1980s...
of Women") (1911), Le Droit à l'avortement ("The Right to Abortion") (1913), and L'éducation féministe des filles ("The Feminist Education of Girls") (1914).
Pelletier displayed her beliefs in her dress and social behavior. She wore her hair short and was known for her cross-dressing
Cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
and celibacy
Celibacy
Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...
. Her actions were perceived by her contemporaries as a challenge to gender-identity. She wrote of her image, "I will show off mine [breasts] when men adopt a special sort of trouser to show off their...".
She traveled illegally to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1921, wrote Mon voyage aventureux en Russie communiste ("My Adventurous Voyage in Communist Russia"), first published in La Voix de la Femme ("The Woman's Voice") at the end of 1921, and published as a separate volume in 1922. She joined the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
upon its creation, but left it in 1926; following her break with Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
she embraced Anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
. Pelletier wrote utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
n novels following her return from the Soviet state, as well as her autobiography La femme vierge ("The Virgin Woman") in 1933.
Pelletier was partially paralyzed by a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
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 within the year.
See also
- History of feminismHistory of feminismThe history of feminism involves the story of feminist movements and of feminist thinkers. Depending on time, culture and country, feminists around the world have sometimes had different causes and goals...
- List of suffragists and suffragettes
- Women's suffrageWomen's suffrageWomen's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...