Marie-Louise Gagneur

Marie-Louise Gagneur ( Mignerot, 25 May 1832 – 17 February 1902) She was brought up at a convent, where she disagreed with the religious education. She married Wladimir Gagneur in 1856 or 1857. Gagneur was 25 years older than her, La Croisade noire (The Black Crusade, 1864), an anti-clerical novel set in the 1850s, had five editions by 1872, and is believed to have been based on her experiences growing up in a convent. Her 1870 book Les Vierges Russes (The Russian Virgins) was translated into English in 1871. Other notable works include Une expiation (An Atonement, 1859), Le Roman d’un prêtre (The Novel of a Priest, 1882), and Le Crime de l’Abbé Maufrac (The Crime of Abbott Maufrac, 1882).

In 1864, Gagneur joined the Société des gens de lettres. During her life, she also called for reform of French divorce laws.

Throughout her writing career, Gagneur was deeply engaged with the feminist scene. Many of her works explore contemporary issues concerning the status of women in society. Particularly, she examines the systemic subordination of women by government and religious institutions. In 1867 Gagneur published Le Calvaire des Femmes [The Ordeals of Women]. In this social novel, Gagneur highlights the suffering of working-class women in an era of great corruption, extravagance, and injustice of Second Empire France. One quote from this work well summarizes her position in the feminist field. "En France comme en Amérique, et pour la femme comme pour l'homme, il n'y a de dignité possible qu'avec la liberté. La femme ne doit point être placée sous la tutelle absolue de l'homme" [In France as in America, and for women like men, there is no possible dignity without liberty. Women have no place under the fist of man].

Notable works Une expiation (An Atonement), 1859 La Croisade noire (The Black Crusade), 1864 Les Vierges Russes (The Russian Virgins), 1870 Le Roman d’un prêtre (The Novel of a Priest), 1882 Le Crime de l’Abbé Maufrac (The Crime of Abbott Maufrac), 1882 Le Calvaire des Femmes (The Ordeals of Women), 1867