Eugénie Niboyet
Encyclopedia
Eugénie Mouchon-Niboyet (September 10, 1796 – January 6, 1883) was a French author and early feminist
. She is best known for founding La Voix des Femmes (The Women's Voice), the first feminist daily newspaper in France.
, France.1 Eugenie wrote about her own family background in the last part of her literary work, The Real Book of Women [Le vrai livre des femmes2]: “I come from a literate family with origins from Geneva, Switzerland," she wrote before emphasizing the importance of her grandfather Pierre Mouchon, an erudite pastor in Geneva and contributor to the Encyclopedia of Diderot and d’Alembert. Only afterward did she mention her father, who came to France to study at the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier, and her mother by simply stating, "He married the daughter of a pastor from Gar," which indicated a Protestant origin
. At the beginning of her book, Eugenie emphasized the importance of her family’s origins in Geneva, the importance of her father relative to new ideas from the French Revolution but also relative to moderation, and his "refusal of excess," which led to him having to take refuge in the Cevennes
to avoid execution.3
Her father raised her three brothers in “the respect and love” of Napoleon Bonaparte. Louis, aide-de-camp to the French General Teste, died in the battle of the Moskowa
, Russia. Emile4, a health officer, was taken prisoner in Dresden
, Germany. During the Bourbon Restoration, the family lived in Lyon
. Eugenie was marked for life by the arrest of some of her family members, and by her visits to the prison. That did not stop her from affirming that, "during that time, my religion was The Empire, my idol was Napoleon I."
Eugenie had two sisters, Aline and Elisa, to whom she later wrote: "We do not write for the narrow minds who want to confine women to the household. Women no longer have to buy their freedom, but to exercise it."
as one reason for the choice of her husband: "As a Child of The Empire, I could not marry anyone but an imperialist." Eugenie was 26 years old at the time of her Protestant marriage to Paul-Louis Niboyet on October 8, 1822. Paul-Louis was a brilliant lawyer aged 30 years, and his father was Jean Niboyet, knighted in 1810 and loyal to Napoleon. The married couple resided in Mâcon
, located in the Burgondy region of France, where Paul-Louis practiced the law profession. On June 22, 1825, their only child, a son named Jean Alexandre Paulin Niboyet, was born.
in French colonies.
, one of the founders of Saint-Simonianism, appointed four women members of the college: Aglae Saint-Hilaire, Caroline Simon, Madame Collard and Eugenie Niboyet. They were charged with the responsibility of preaching to the workers but also to bring them aid and education. In 1831, Eugenie and Sebastien Bottiau were in charge of the Saint-Simonian section of the 4th and 5th arrondissements of Paris.5
The conflict between the two Fathers, Saint-Amand Bazard and Barthelemy Prosper Enfantin, and the desire of the latter to radically change the rules of sexual morality by establishing the community of women, as well as the schism between Bazard and the radically religious positions held by Enfantin, provoked numerous divergences between the two men. Eugenie ultimately distanced herself from the movement, but without disowning its ideas about the economy.
.
, who presented the treatment of women as the truest measure of social progress. In particular, she went to meet with Flora Tristan
.
In July 1836, back in Paris, Eugenie founded The Gazette of Women [La Gazette des Femmes] with the help of friends such as Charles Fredric Herbinot de Mauchamps. A sort of club, bringing together editors and subscribers, met to support and manage the newspaper, but also to discuss particular issues including the struggle for political and civil rights of women. Eugenie gathered many women during these weekly meetings on Thursdays at 27 Rue Lafite. There one could meet Flora Tristan, Hortense Allart, Anais Segalas and many other feminists.
gave new hope to feminism, including the lifting of restrictions on meetings, thereby allowing the development of groups that advocated for women's rights.
In March 1848, Eugenie Niboyet founded and ran a newspaper dealing only with women’s issues. The Voice of Women [La Voix des femmes
, Desiree Gay
, Suzanne Voilquin, Elisa Lemonnier, and Anais Segalas, but also popular authors such as Gabrielle Soumet, Amelie Prai, and Adele Esquiros. This movement was no longer reserved only for women as men also contributed, such as Jean Mace and Paulin Niboyet, Eugenie’s son.
The club promoted a very large catalog of reforms favorable to women, as much in the domestic realm as in the political. Extending the right to vote to all men provoked a resounding initiative when, on April 6, The Voice of Women nominated the candidacy of George Sand
to the French Constituent Assembly. Sand disavowed this initiative and harshly judged these women whom she claimed not to know. Satirical cartoonists lampooned Eugenie and the journalists of The Voice of Women. The brouhaha created by this matter was overwhelming, such that people turned against the promoters of this initiative, and the government decided to end women's clubs. On June 20, Eugenie Niboyet, discouraged and hurt, ceased publication of The Voice of Women, and the feminists dispersed to avoid repression.
, where she lived with difficulty doing translations of Charles Dickens
and children's books published by Lydia Maria and Maria Edgeworth
. Nevertheless, she took up the pen again after the "Paris Commune
" to support requests for pardons of convicts.
In 1860, Eugenie Niboyet returned to France, where she published The True Book of Women [Le Vrai livre des femmes] in 1863.6 Her letters to Leon Richer, the editor of The Rights of Women [Le Droit des femmes], attest to the fact that she always remained interested in the feminist movement. In 1878, at the age of 82 years, she was honored at the feminist congress in Paris.
Eugenie Niboyet died in Paris on January 6, 1883.
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
. She is best known for founding La Voix des Femmes (The Women's Voice), the first feminist daily newspaper in France.
Youth and Family Background
Eugenie Niboyet, named Eugenie Mouchon at birth, was born on September 11, 1796, in MontpellierMontpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
, France.1 Eugenie wrote about her own family background in the last part of her literary work, The Real Book of Women [Le vrai livre des femmes2]: “I come from a literate family with origins from Geneva, Switzerland," she wrote before emphasizing the importance of her grandfather Pierre Mouchon, an erudite pastor in Geneva and contributor to the Encyclopedia of Diderot and d’Alembert. Only afterward did she mention her father, who came to France to study at the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier, and her mother by simply stating, "He married the daughter of a pastor from Gar," which indicated a Protestant origin
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
. At the beginning of her book, Eugenie emphasized the importance of her family’s origins in Geneva, the importance of her father relative to new ideas from the French Revolution but also relative to moderation, and his "refusal of excess," which led to him having to take refuge in the Cevennes
Cévennes
The Cévennes are a range of mountains in south-central France, covering parts of the départements of Gard, Lozère, Ardèche, and Haute-Loire.The word Cévennes comes from the Gaulish Cebenna, which was Latinized by Julius Caesar to Cevenna...
to avoid execution.3
Her father raised her three brothers in “the respect and love” of Napoleon Bonaparte. Louis, aide-de-camp to the French General Teste, died in the battle of the Moskowa
Battle of Borodino
The Battle of Borodino , fought on September 7, 1812, was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the French invasion of Russia and all Napoleonic Wars, involving more than 250,000 troops and resulting in at least 70,000 casualties...
, Russia. Emile4, a health officer, was taken prisoner in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, Germany. During the Bourbon Restoration, the family lived in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
. Eugenie was marked for life by the arrest of some of her family members, and by her visits to the prison. That did not stop her from affirming that, "during that time, my religion was The Empire, my idol was Napoleon I."
Eugenie had two sisters, Aline and Elisa, to whom she later wrote: "We do not write for the narrow minds who want to confine women to the household. Women no longer have to buy their freedom, but to exercise it."
Marriage and Motherhood
In her autobiography, Eugenie emphasized the commitment of her family to NapoleonNapoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
as one reason for the choice of her husband: "As a Child of The Empire, I could not marry anyone but an imperialist." Eugenie was 26 years old at the time of her Protestant marriage to Paul-Louis Niboyet on October 8, 1822. Paul-Louis was a brilliant lawyer aged 30 years, and his father was Jean Niboyet, knighted in 1810 and loyal to Napoleon. The married couple resided in Mâcon
Mâcon
Mâcon is a small city in central France. It is prefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department, in the region of Bourgogne, and the capital of the Mâconnais district. Mâcon is home to over 35,000 residents, called Mâconnais.-Geography:...
, located in the Burgondy region of France, where Paul-Louis practiced the law profession. On June 22, 1825, their only child, a son named Jean Alexandre Paulin Niboyet, was born.
Debut as a Female Writer
Arriving in Paris on November 4, 1829, she began to make a living as a writer. In 1830, she participated in a writing contest of Société de la morale chrétienne (The Society of Christian Morality). She focused on the theme of The blind and their education, her writing received favorable notices, and she ultimately shared the contest prize with M. Duffaut.The Society of Christian Morality
She joined the Protestant organization called “The Society of Christian Morality” and got involved in many social issues: prison reform; education reform; and the abolition of slaverySlavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
in French colonies.
The Saint-Simonians
In 1830, The Society of Christian Morality shared its conference rooms with the Saint-Simonians. Eugenie attended the sermons of the Saint-Simonians and, inspired by their ideas, followed their movement with her husband and son, both of whom she persuaded to join. On July 20, 1830, Barthelemy Prosper EnfantinBarthélemy Prosper Enfantin
Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin was a French social reformer, one of the founders of Saint-Simonianism.-Early life:...
, one of the founders of Saint-Simonianism, appointed four women members of the college: Aglae Saint-Hilaire, Caroline Simon, Madame Collard and Eugenie Niboyet. They were charged with the responsibility of preaching to the workers but also to bring them aid and education. In 1831, Eugenie and Sebastien Bottiau were in charge of the Saint-Simonian section of the 4th and 5th arrondissements of Paris.5
The conflict between the two Fathers, Saint-Amand Bazard and Barthelemy Prosper Enfantin, and the desire of the latter to radically change the rules of sexual morality by establishing the community of women, as well as the schism between Bazard and the radically religious positions held by Enfantin, provoked numerous divergences between the two men. Eugenie ultimately distanced herself from the movement, but without disowning its ideas about the economy.
Debut of Women’s Journalism
With the Saint-Simonian proletarians, she was part of the group of women who participated in the first periodical written entirely by women: The Free Woman La Femme libre, created by Marie-Reine Guindorf and Desiree VeretDesirée Gay
Jeanne Desirée Véret Gay was a French socialist feminist.Born in Paris, as Desirée Véret, she worked as a seamstress before in 1831 joining the followers of utopian socialist Henri de Saint-Simon...
.
Fourierism
Like the two founders and participants in the first issues of The Free Woman, she drew closer to the movement of the philosopher Charles FourierCharles Fourier
François Marie Charles Fourier was a French philosopher. An influential thinker, some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have become main currents in modern society...
, who presented the treatment of women as the truest measure of social progress. In particular, she went to meet with Flora Tristan
Flora Tristan
Flora Tristan was a socialist writer and activist. She was also one of the founders of modern feminism...
.
Female Publisher
Back in Lyon in 1833, Eugenie founded the first feminist periodical outside the Paris region with a publication titled The Women's Advisor [Le Conseiller des femmes], a weekly without illustrations printed by Boitel, followed for a few months by The Lyon Mosaic [La Mosaïque Lyonnaise]. Then she participated in the creation of The Peace of Both Worlds [La Paix des deux mondes], and in 1834 of The Athenaeum of Women [L’Athénée des femmes].In July 1836, back in Paris, Eugenie founded The Gazette of Women [La Gazette des Femmes] with the help of friends such as Charles Fredric Herbinot de Mauchamps. A sort of club, bringing together editors and subscribers, met to support and manage the newspaper, but also to discuss particular issues including the struggle for political and civil rights of women. Eugenie gathered many women during these weekly meetings on Thursdays at 27 Rue Lafite. There one could meet Flora Tristan, Hortense Allart, Anais Segalas and many other feminists.
Militant Feminist Politics
The revolution of 1848French Revolution of 1848
The 1848 Revolution in France was one of a wave of revolutions in 1848 in Europe. In France, the February revolution ended the Orleans monarchy and led to the creation of the French Second Republic. The February Revolution was really the belated second phase of the Revolution of 1830...
gave new hope to feminism, including the lifting of restrictions on meetings, thereby allowing the development of groups that advocated for women's rights.
In March 1848, Eugenie Niboyet founded and ran a newspaper dealing only with women’s issues. The Voice of Women [La Voix des femmes
Jeanne Deroin
Jeanne Deroin was a French socialist feminist.Born in Paris, Deroin became a seamstress. In 1831, she joined the followers of utopian socialist Henri de Saint-Simon...
, Desiree Gay
Desirée Gay
Jeanne Desirée Véret Gay was a French socialist feminist.Born in Paris, as Desirée Véret, she worked as a seamstress before in 1831 joining the followers of utopian socialist Henri de Saint-Simon...
, Suzanne Voilquin, Elisa Lemonnier, and Anais Segalas, but also popular authors such as Gabrielle Soumet, Amelie Prai, and Adele Esquiros. This movement was no longer reserved only for women as men also contributed, such as Jean Mace and Paulin Niboyet, Eugenie’s son.
The club promoted a very large catalog of reforms favorable to women, as much in the domestic realm as in the political. Extending the right to vote to all men provoked a resounding initiative when, on April 6, The Voice of Women nominated the candidacy of George Sand
George Sand
Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant , best known by her pseudonym George Sand , was a French novelist and memoirist.-Life:...
to the French Constituent Assembly. Sand disavowed this initiative and harshly judged these women whom she claimed not to know. Satirical cartoonists lampooned Eugenie and the journalists of The Voice of Women. The brouhaha created by this matter was overwhelming, such that people turned against the promoters of this initiative, and the government decided to end women's clubs. On June 20, Eugenie Niboyet, discouraged and hurt, ceased publication of The Voice of Women, and the feminists dispersed to avoid repression.
End of Life
Eugenie Niboyet retired from public life and went into exile in GenevaGeneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, where she lived with difficulty doing translations of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
and children's books published by Lydia Maria and Maria Edgeworth
Maria Edgeworth
Maria Edgeworth was a prolific Anglo-Irish writer of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the novel in Europe...
. Nevertheless, she took up the pen again after the "Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
" to support requests for pardons of convicts.
In 1860, Eugenie Niboyet returned to France, where she published The True Book of Women [Le Vrai livre des femmes] in 1863.6 Her letters to Leon Richer, the editor of The Rights of Women [Le Droit des femmes], attest to the fact that she always remained interested in the feminist movement. In 1878, at the age of 82 years, she was honored at the feminist congress in Paris.
Eugenie Niboyet died in Paris on January 6, 1883.