Eugénie Cotton
Eugénie Cotton | |
|---|---|
Standing, from left to right: Marthe and Anna Cartan. Sitting: Madeleine, Marie Curie and Eugénie Cotton. | |
| Born | Eugénie Elise Céline Feytis 13 October 1881 |
| Died | 16 June 1967 (aged 85) |
| Political party | French Communist Party |
| Board member of | Women in Solidarity World Peace Council |
| Spouse(s) | Aimé Cotton, m. 1913 |
| Honours | Knight of the Legion of Honor, Gold medal from the World Peace Council, and International Stalin Peace Prize "For the strengthening of peace between nations" |
Eugénie Cotton (13 October 1881 – 16 June 1967) was a French scientist, socialist, women's rights advocate and was active in the resistance.[1] She was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize in 1951, Knight of the Legion of Honor, and the Gold medal from the World Peace Council in 1961. She died aged 85 in Sèvres, near Paris.
Family life and education
Cotton was born Eugénie Elise Céline Feytis in Soubise (Charente-Maritime) on 13 October 1881. She enrolled at the École normale supérieure de jeunes filles (ENSJF) in Sèvres in 1901 where she became a pupil of Marie Curie, and met Pierre Curie and Paul Langevin. In 1904, she was first in the female competition of the agrégation of physical and natural sciences. After graduation, she taught at a collège (middle school) in Poitiers and then at the ENSJF.[2]
In 1913, she married fellow physicist Aimé Cotton (1869 - 1951), a professor at the Faculty of Science in Paris and at the École normale supérieure in Saint-Cloud. They had four children (one of whom died shortly after birth).[3]
In 1925 a doctor of physical sciences, Eugénie Cotton later became a senior research fellow at the National Center for Scientific Research, the largest French public body of scientific research. She also became director (headmistress) of the École normale supérieure de jeunes filles in 1936. She played a significant role in the reform of women's studies at the ENSJF, raising the level of science education and developing the on-site laboratory which in turn led to improvements in research.[4]
Wartime activities
A member of the French Communist Party, Cotton helped the German anti-fascists who had taken refuge in France after 1933, and went on to support insurgents fleeing Franco after fighting fascism in Spain.
During World War II, the French national Vichy government that supported the German occupation of France, mandated that Cotton leave her post at the ENSJF by forced retirement in 1941. This was done under the Law of 11 October 1940, requiring women over the age of 50 to retire.[5] She was replaced in the role by Edmée Hatinguais.[6] During the course of the war, her husband was arrested twice by the Gestapo but survived the experience.[3]
In 1944, Cotton participated in the founding of the Union of French Women. She was a founding member in 1945 and the first president of the Women's International Democratic Federation. She also served as vice-president of the World Peace Council until her death.[2]
Honours and tributes
During her lifetime, Cotton received the Stalin Peace Prize, Knight of the Legion of Honor and the Gold medal from the World Peace Council.[2]
After her death, several primary schools in the Paris region were renamed after Cotton: in Paris, Sèvres, Champigny-sur-Marne, Nanterre, Vitry-sur-Seine, Bonneuil-sur-Marne, or Rosny-sous-bois. There is also a Eugénie Cotton nursery school in Brétigny-sur-Orge, in Choisy-le-Roi, in Trappes and a school in Brittany, in Lanester, as well as in the Aube in Romilly-sur-Seine and in Moselle at Talange.[7][8]
Cotton's name was also given to a college of Argenteuil and in Montreuil, a street in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, a street in Saint-Herblain on the outskirts of Nantes, a street in Le Havre, as well as a collective crèche in Morsang-sur-Orge in the department of Essonne.
In 1985, the crater Cotton on Venus was named in her honour.[9]
In 2026, Cotton was announced as one of 72 historical women in STEM whose names have been proposed to be added to the 72 men already celebrated on the Eiffel Tower. The plan was announced by the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo following the recommendations of a committee led by Isabelle Vauglin of Femmes et Sciences and Jean-François Martins, representing the operating company which runs the Eiffel Tower.[10][11]
Archives
Eugénie Cotton's archives are preserved in the collection of feminist literature held at the library La bibliothèque Marguerite Durand, 79 rue Nationale, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris.[12]
References
- ^ Molony, Barbara; Nelson, Jennifer (2017). Women's Activism and "Second Wave" Feminism: Transnational Histories. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 147–172.
- ^ a b c Kahr, Bart (2020). "Better than CD: Eugénie Cotton (1881-1967)". Chirality. 32 (5): 652–660. doi:10.1002/chir.23215. ISSN 1520-636X. PMID 32145108.
- ^ a b "Aimé COTTON" (in French). 2005-10-16. Archived from the original on 2005-10-16. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
- ^ de Haan, Francisca (2013). "Eugénie Cotton, Pak Chong-ae, and Claudia Jones: Rethinking Transnational Feminism and International Politics". Journal of Women's History. 25 (4): 174–189. doi:10.1353/jowh.2013.0055. ISSN 1527-2036. S2CID 201794308.
- ^ Fauré, Christine (2004-06-02). Political and Historical Encyclopedia of Women. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-45691-7.
- ^ Marguerite Cordier, Mme Hatinguais, née Edmée Marc (1896-1972), Femmes diplômées, no 73, 1985, p. 37-38 [archive], accessed 17 March 2026.
- ^ "Ecole primaire publique Eugénie Cotton". Ministère de l'Education Nationale de la Jeunesse et des Sports (in French). Retrieved 2021-01-30.
- ^ "Classement des lycées 2020 : Lycée Eugénie Cotton à Montreuil". www.linternaute.com (in French). Retrieved 2021-01-30.
- ^ "Planetary Names". planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
- ^ "Eiffel Tower: a list of 72 women scientists will soon be inscribed on the Parisian monument". www.sortiraparis.com. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
- ^ "Eiffel Tower to honor 72 women scientists for posterity". 2026-01-26. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
- ^ Dizier-Metz, Annie (1993). "La bibliothèque Marguerite Durand". Nouvelles Questions Féministes (in French). 14 (3): 7–31. ISSN 0248-4951. JSTOR 40619547.
Further reading
- de Haan, Francisca (2013). "Eugénie Cotton, Pak Chong-ae, and Claudia Jones: Rethinking Transnational Feminism and International Politics". Journal of Women's History. 25 (4): 174–189. doi:10.1353/jowh.2013.0055. ISSN 1527-2036. S2CID 201794308.
- Loukia Efthymiou, Eugénie Cotton (1881-1967): Stories from a lifetime - Stories from a century, European University Editions, 2019, 459 p.
- Loukia Efthymiou, «Le culte de la cheffe dans le monde communiste. Eugénie Cotton «mère mondiale», Clio, Femmes, Genre, Histoire, n° 57/1: Le genre de la Guerre froide, Paris, Belin, 2023, σ. 161-172.