Paris will inscribe the names of 72 prominent women on the Eiffel Tower

After more than 130 years, the Paris authorities have decided to correct a historical injustice and add the names of 72 women who have made significant contributions to science and technology alongside them.

The initiative comes from an expert committee led by astrophysicist Isabelle Voglen, vice president of the Femmes & Sciences association, and Jean-François Martens, head of the tower's management company. Their aim is to recall the contribution of women, which has been silenced for decades. The American historian Margaret Rossiter called this phenomenon the "Matilda effect" back in 1993, in honour of Matilda activist Jocelyn Gage.

Who will be chosen

A list of candidates will be proposed to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo by the end of the year. The selection will be limited to women scientists who lived from 1789 to the present day but have passed away. The focus will be on French women, although the committee has left room for discussion.

How the tower will change

The plan is to place the new names above the existing frieze with men's names, symbolically emphasising gender equality. In this way, the Eiffel Tower will unite the memory of male and female achievements for the first time in its history.

Cultural significance

About 7 million people visit the tower every year, and almost three quarters of them are foreign tourists. Now, a visit to the symbol of Paris will remind not only of the male figures of science of the 19th century, but also of the outstanding women without whom it is impossible to imagine the development of science and technology.

French Education Minister Elisabeth Bourne, in turn, proposed to discuss changes in the Pantheon so that the inscriptions and symbols of the national necropolis would also better reflect the contribution of women.