Léonie Rouzade, born Louise-Léonie Camusat (1839–1916) was a French

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, politician, journalist and author. An active supporter of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

, in 1880 together with Eugénie Pierre, she founded the ''Union des femmes'', the first socialist women's association in France. As a writer, in 1872 she published two novels: ''Le Monde renversé'' (''The World Turned Upside Down'') and ''Voyage de Théodose à l'île de l'Utopie'' (''A Voyage to the Isle of Utopia'').

Biography

Born on 6 September 1839 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, Louise-Léonie Camusat was the daughter of a watchmaker. In 1860, after working as an embroiderer, she married Auguste Rouzade, an accountant in

Meudon Meudon () is a French Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, on the left bank of the Seine. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of P ...

where they settled. Encouraged by her husband, she spent her spare time promoting the cause of working-class women by writing two feminist novels: ''Voyage de Théodose à l'île de l'Utopie'' and ''Le Monde renversé''. In the former, the shipwrecked Théodose discovers an island where everyone works harmoniously for only four hours a day enjoying complete equality between men and women. In the latter, a woman confined to a harem in the Middle East leads a revolt, imposing a new code of law based on men obeying the rule of women. In 1878, Rouzade participated in the

International Congress of Women The International Congress of Women was created so that groups of existing women's suffrage movements could come together with other women's groups around the world. It served as a way for women organizations across the nation to establish formal ...

where she met

Hubertine Auclert Hubertine Auclert (; 10 April 1848 – 4 August 1914) was a leading French feminist and a campaigner for women's suffrage. Early life Born in the Allier '' département'' in the Auvergne area of France into a middle-class family, Hubertine Aucl ...

who encouraged her to support ''Droit des femmes'' which she founded the following year. After it was merged with the ''Parti ouvrier'' (Workers Party), Rouzade wrote for the journal ''Le Prolétaire'' and spoke at party conferences. On 28 February 1880, ''Le Prolétaire'' announced that the ''Union des femmes'' (UdF) had been established by Léonie Rouzade and Eugénie Pierre. Rouzade spoke at the organization's first meeting on 13 April 1880. That June, she represented the UdF at the Paris region socialist organization ''Union fédérative du centre'' and at the 1880 ''Congès du Havre''. She continued to speak at socialist functions until 1882 when she retired from active campaigning after facing strong opposition as a socialist candidate for the 12th Paris arrondissement in the 1881 municipal elections. In 1891, she joined ''La Solida des femmes'' founded by

Eugénie Potonié-Pierre Eugénie Potonié-Pierre (5 November 1844 – 12 June 1898 Paris) was a French feminist who founded the Federation of French Feminist Societies in 1892. She joined the Society for the Amelioration of Women's Condition with Léon Richer and Ma ...

but left the organization around 1901 after the founder's death. Léonie Rouzade died in mid-October 1916. The Rue Léonie Rouzade in

is named after her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rouzade, Léonie 1839 births 1916 deaths French feminists French suffragists 19th-century French women politicians 19th-century French novelists French women writers French socialist feminists Politicians from Paris International Congress of Women people 20th-century French women politicians