- Jeanne Deroin
Jeanne Deroin (
31 December 1805 –2 April 1894 ) was a Frenchsocialist feminist .Born in
Paris , Deroin became aseamstress . In 1831, she joined the followers ofutopian socialist Henri de Saint-Simon . For her required statement of her belief in their principles, she wrote a forty-four page essay, in part inspired byOlympe de Gouges ' "Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen ", in which Deroin argued against the idea that women were inferior to men, and likenedmarriage toslavery . Despite this, in 1832, she marriedAntoine Ulysse Desroches , a fellow Saint-Simonite, but refused to take his surname"Deroin, Jeanne", "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography "] and insisted on taking a vow of equality in acivil ceremony . [http://www.ohiou.edu/~chastain/dh/deroin.htm Jeanne Deroin] , Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions]Later in 1832, Deroin was part of a group of working women who, in protest at the Saint-Simonites hierarchical and religious nature left the group, and became supporters of the socialist
Charles Fourier . They began publishing "La Femme Libre ", the first newspaper for women in France, for which she wrote under the pseudonym Jeanne Victoire.During this period, Deroin qualified as a
schoolteacher . From 1834, she focussed on this work, and on bringing up her children and those ofFlora Tristan .Deroin was a prominent figure during the Revolutions of 1848, campaigning on the rights of women and against the exploitation of children and harsh treatment of convicts. With other Fourierist women such as
Pauline Roland ,Eugenie Niboyet andDesirée Gay , she launched a socialist feminist newspaper and club, the "Voix des Femmes ". She personally led calls forwomen's suffrage . The group was soon forced to close, but Deroin worked with Gay to found theAssociation Mutuelle des Femmes and "Politique des Femmes" newspaper. The organisation gave free courses to working women. "Politique des Femmes" soon found itself unable to raise a 5,000 franc security bond required by the government. Deroin replaced it with "Opinion des Femmes", but this lasted only one issue.In January 1849, Deroin relaunched "Opinion des Femmes". She continued her campaigns, and in particular argued against the
anarchist philosopherPierre-Joseph Proudhon . Deroin stood in theDepartment of the Seine at theFrench legislative election, 1849 , becoming the first woman in France to stand in a national election. She stood for theComité Démocrate Sociale , but received only fifteen votes, in part because she would not have been permitted to take a seat. [ [http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/whm2003/deroin.html Jeanne Deroin] , Sunshine for Women] She then became the Deputy President of theSociété Populaire pour le Progression et la Réalisation de la Science Sociale , which campaigned for a peacefulsocial revolution .In "Opinion des Femmes" last issue, of August 1849, Deroin called for the formation of the
Association Fraternelle et Solidaire de Toutes les Associations , seeing it as a chance to transform the looseco-operative movement into a revolutionarygeneral union which could organise work through its affiliated associations, eliminatewage s and control the economy.The National Assembly gave her and Gay 12,000 francs to form an association of women seamstresses making ladies' underwear, and a fraternal association along a watered-down version of her proposal was initially able to link together more than one hundred existing organisations. Deroin was elected to its Central Committee, alongside Roland. However, the Association was gradually repressed by the Government, and in May 1850, its offices were raided, forty-six members being arrested.
Deroin was imprisoned until June 1851, using this time to campaign further on women's rights. She wrote to groups including the
Women's Rights Convention in Massachusetts and theSheffield Female Political Association , giving advice on tactics. On her release, she returned to teaching, but in 1852, fearing re-arrest, she travelled toLondon with her two youngest children. She lived inShepherd's Bush , where she worked teaching and embroidering. She also published three women'salmanac s and remained active in supportingworkers' co-operative s.In 1862, Deroin founded a
boarding school for children of Frenchexile s, aiming to admit even the poorest children, but the project did not prove financially viable. In 1871, she was granted a smallpension by the new Government of France. Although she remained in London, she kept up a correspondence with socialist feminists and women's suffrage campaigners in France, such asLéon Richer ,Madame Arnaud andHubertine Auclert .In the 1880s, Deroin joined the Socialist League, and its founder
William Morris delivered the oration at her funeral.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.