19 inspirational French women for International Women’s Day

To celebrate inspiring French women, here is a personal list of women I admire, in no particular order.

All of them are living, and I have left out actresses, singers, models, fashionistas and celebrities. I have chosen businesswomen, judges, doctors, scientists, politicians, Olympians, a pilot, an astronaut and a novelist.

Eva Joly

Eva Joly is a magistrate and Green politician who was a member of the European Parliament from 2009–2019. As an investigating magistrate in Paris, she pursued major corruption cases involving figures such as former minister Bernard Tapie and the bank Crédit Lyonnais. She also uncovered widespread fraud at the oil company Elf Aquitaine, even after receiving death threats.

Frédérique Vidal

Frédérique Vidal is a biochemist, academic administrator and politician. President of Nice-Sophia-Antipolis University from 2012-2017, she has also Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation from 2017 to 2022.

Patricia Barbizet 

Patricia Barbizet is a businesswoman whose illustrious career culminated in becoming the first female CEO of auction house Christie's from 2014-2016, and Executive Director of the Artémis Group from 1992-2017.

Christiane Taubira

Christiane Taubira, in the face of constant, extreme racist and misogynist abuse, as Minister of Justice from 2012-2016 worked to make it legal for same sex couples to marry and to adopt children. Taubira won the ‘people’s primary’ vote designed to select a single left-wing presidential election candidate in January 2022, but she failed to secure the 500 signatures from public officials needed to qualify for the first round.

Martine Abbou

Martine Abbou began her career as co-founder of the 'Journal de l'automobile' magazine, then worked at the Chamber of Commerce in Paris. A committed feminist, she founded the Wimadame network to support female entrepreneurs.

Nathalie Balla

Nathalie Balla is co-CEO of clothing and home decor brand La Redoute, and co-founded the Sista collective in 2018 to promote women in digital industries.

Marie Bochet

Marie Bochet, who was born without a left forearm, won four gold medals at the 2014 Winter Paralympics, and another four gold medals at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. She is now a member of the International Paralympic Committee.

Nathalie Katia Boy de la Tour

Nathalie Katia Boy de la Tour served as president of the Ligue de Football Professionnel from 2016 to September 2020, after becoming the first woman on the league’s administrative council.

Marie-Claire Capobianco 

Marie-Claire Capobianco is a member of the board at BNP Paribas, and president of the World Economic Forum.

Claudie Haigneré 

Claudie Haigneré is a physician, astronaut and politician who in 1996 became the first French woman to go into space. She spent 16 days on the Mir space station and was the first woman to command a Soyuz capsule during re-entry. In 2001 she became the first European woman to visit the International Space Station.

Mélanie Astles 

Mélanie Astles overcame immense financial hurdles to become an aerobatics pilot. She has won the French Championship five times and ranks in the top ten at European and World levels.

Fred Vargas 

Fred Vargas (or Frédérique Audoin-Rouzeau) is an academic historian and archaeologist, known for her work on the Black Death. The crime novels she says she writes to relax won the International Dagger Awards in 2006, 2008, and 2010.

Claire Voisin 

Claire Voisin is a mathematician known for her work in algebraic geometry. A member of the French Academy of Sciences, she won the Gold Medal from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in 2016. In 2017 she was awarded the Shaw Prize, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2021.

Emmanuelle Charpentier 

Emmanuelle Charpentier, a professor and researcher in microbiology, genetics and biochemistry, has been a director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin since 2015. In 2020, she and American biochemist Jennifer Doudna won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on genome editing.

Anne-Sophie Pic 

Anne-Sophie Pic is an award-winning chef whose restaurant Maison Pic holds three Michelin stars. She was named the World’s Best Female Chef in 2011.

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi 

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi is a virologist and a professor at the Institut Pasteur in Paris. She was involved in identifying HIV and in 2008, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Christine Lagarde 

Christine Lagarde, a politician and lawyer, was managing director of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and is now president of the European Central Bank. She previously served as France’s minister for foreign trade, minister for agriculture and fisheries, and minister for the economy, finance and industry.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem 

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem is a jurist and politician who served as France’s minister of national education, higher education and research. She later became director of the ONE Campaign in France, which works to eradicate extreme poverty and prevent preventable disease by 2030.

Laura Flessel-Colovic 

Laura Flessel-Colovic is an Olympic fencer who won five Olympic medals, including two gold, and later served as France’s minister of sports. She is an ambassador for AMREF Flying Doctors’ Stand Up for African Mothers campaign and also works with Handicap International.

Which other French female public figures would you like to see celebrated this International Women’s Day? Please share your thoughts via news@connexionfrance.com

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