Will the statues of the 10 women honored at the Paris 2024 Olympics be visible in Paris?

One of the highlights of the event was the appearance of statues of ten women, feminists and activists, at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. To the sound of the Marseillaise, monumental gilded sculptures representing female figures from the worlds of literature, sport, politics and the arts emerged from large pedestals installed in the Seine, near the Alexandre-III bridge. Olympe de Gouges, Alice Milliat, Gisèle Halimi, Simone de Beauvoir, Paulette Nardal, Jeanne Barret, Louise Michel, Christine de Pizan, Alice Guy and Simone Veil were thus honored in a vibrant tribute to women's emancipation.

The show's designer, Thomas Jolly, wanted this sequence to be not only entertaining and spectacular, but also meaningful. Indeed, Paris, where statuary is ultra-majority male, currently has just 40 female statues compared to 260 male figures, according to the Games Organizing Committee. Tony Estanguet, patron of the Paris 2024 Olympics, has indicated that discussions are underway for these sculptures to join the public space on a permanent basis.

Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, has expressed her wish to keep 3 strong symbols of the Olympic Games: the rings on the Eiffel Tower, the Olympic cauldron and the 10 statues of women in the Sororité painting, which she would like to see installed along rue de La Chapelle in the 18th arrondissement.

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Who are the 10 female statues highlighted at the Olympics?

• Simone de Beauvoir, a key figure in feminism and existentialist philosophy, published "Le Deuxième Sexe" (The Second Sex) in 1949, the seminal work of the feminist movement.
  
  
• Olympe de Gouges, born in 1748, became an icon of feminism and human rights, writing the "Déclaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne" in 1791.
  
  
• Alice Milliat, a pioneer of women's sport, founded the International Women's Sports Federation and launched the Women's World Games in 1922 to provide a platform for female athletes.
  
  
• The statues also include Gisèle Halimi, lawyer and feminist activist who championed emblematic causes and played a key role in the legalization of abortion in France.
  
  
• Paulette Nardal, an activist and intellectual, was one of the inspirers of the negritude literary movement, advocating racial equality and women's rights.
  
  
• Jeanne Barret, a pioneer of scientific exploration, circumnavigated the globe disguised as a man to accompany a botanical expedition in the 18th century.
  
  
• We also discovered Simone Veil, an emblematic figure in French politics and an activist for women's rights, an Auschwitz survivor and defender of the law legalizing abortion.
  
  
• Louise Michel, a major figure in the Paris Commune and the anarchist movement, campaigned for education for the underprivileged and social equality.
  
  
• Christine de Pizan, one of the first professional women writers of the Middle Ages, wrote poetic, historical and philosophical works.
  
  
• Alice Guy, a pioneer of cinema, made her first film in 1896 and founded a film production company in the United States.

The gilded statues were created by the Sartrouvilloise firm Marie Frères et Maris 3D. The initiative to celebrate these women through monumental statues is hailed as a significant step towards recognizing women's contributions in the public space. However, the durability of these sculptures has yet to be confirmed. If discussions are successful, these works will become an integral part of the Parisian landscape, offering residents and visitors alike a constant reminder of the importance of women's contributions to history and culture.