Marie Huot (born Mathilde Marie Constance Ménétrier; 28 June 1846 – 13 April 1930) was a French poet, writer, feminist,

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

and

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

activist.

Biography

Mathilde Marie Constance Ménétrier was born in 1846. In 1869, she married Anatole-Théodore-Marie Huot, the editor of the leftist Parisian review, ''L'Encyclopédie Contemporaine Illustrée''. She was a close friend of the Swedish anarchist, impressionist painter

Ivan Aguéli Ivan Aguéli (born ''John Gustaf Agelii'') (May 24, 1869 – October 1, 1917) also named Shaykh ʿAbd al-Hādī al-ʿAqīlī ( ar, شيخ عبد الهادی عقیلی) upon his conversion to Islam, was a Swedish wandering Sufi, painter and a ...

, whom she indirectly introduced to

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

and dedicated her collection of symbolism poems ''Le Missel de Notre-Dame des Solitudes'' ("The Missal of Our Lady of Solitudes"). Huot was an advocate for animal rights and member of the Parisian animal protection society, founder of the Popular League against Vivisection and France's first hospice for animals. She was famous for a number of spectacular activist actions. In 1886, she interrupted a lecture by

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named afte ...

at the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...

, for using dogs in animal testing. Once, at

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...

, she hit the Mauritian scientist

Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard FRS (8 April 1817 – 2 April 1894) was a Mauritian physiologist and neurologist who, in 1850, became the first to describe what is now called Brown-Séquard syndrome. Early life Brown-Séquard was born at Port ...

over the head with a parasol for having performed a vivisection on a monkey. In 1900, she helped Ivan Aguéli in his attack on two matadors at a French

bullfight Bullfighting is a physical contest that involves a bullfighter attempting to subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull, usually according to a set of rules, guidelines, or cultural expectations. There are several variations, including some forms wh ...

. Active in the French

Neo-Malthusianism Malthusianism is the idea that population growth is potentially exponential while the growth of the food supply or other resources is linear, which eventually reduces living standards to the point of triggering a population die off. This event, c ...

movement, Huot was the originator of the expression "la grève des ventres" ("strike of the bellies" or "birth strike"). In 1892, Huot delivered a public conference, in which she demanded free access to abortion and contraception. At this conference, Huot also advocated for the voluntary extinction of the human race by refusal to procreate, both out of compassion for human suffering and the suffering that humans inflict on animals. This was later published, in 1909, as ''Le Mal de Vivre'' ("The Pain of Living").

Selected publications

Articles

*
Le Droit des Animaux
("Animal Law"), ''La Revue socialiste'', Iss. 6, 1887, pp. 47–56

Books

* ''Le Missel de Notre-Dame des Solitudes'' ("The Missal of Our Lady of Solitudes") (Paris: E. Sansot, 1908) (preface by

Rachilde Rachilde was the pen name and preferred identity of novelist and playwright Marguerite Vallette-Eymery (11 February 1860 – 4 April 1953). Born near Périgueux, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France during the Second French Empire, Rachilde went on t ...

) *
Le Mal de Vivre
' ("The Pain of Living") (Paris: Génération Consciente, 1909)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huot, Marie 1846 births 1930 deaths Anti-natalists Anti-vivisectionists French anti-vaccination activists French activists French animal rights activists French feminist writers French journalists French Theosophists French vegetarianism activists French women activists French women poets People from Yonne