Le Droit des femmes
Le Droit des femmes was a French feminist journal that appeared from 1869 to 1891. It was founded and edited by Léon Richer, and in the early days supported financially by Maria Deraismes. The newspaper supported many women's causes, but always avoided directly supporting women's suffrage. It was one of the longest running journals of its type in the 19th century.
History
The first issue of Le Droit des femmes appeared on 10 April 1869. Léon Richer was the editor-in-chief.Richer edited the paper and wrote most of the content.
He was a free-thinker and feminist who worked closely with Maria Deraismes.
Desraismes helped fund the paper, to which she also contributed. Julie-Victoire Daubié wrote several economic and feminist pieces for the journal.
Le Droit des Femmes was suspended on 11 August 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War.
The newspaper reappeared as the Avenir des femmes on 24 September 1871.
This was a somewhat less assertive name.
In the mid-1870s Eugénie Potonié-Pierre became secretary of Le Droit des femmes and a regular contributor to the journal.
Desraismes and Richer organized a Women's Rights conference in July–August 1878.
After this conference, Richer reverted to the original title of Le Droit des Femmes.
The first issue of the new Droit des femmes appeared on 5 January 1879.
In December 1891 Le Droit des Femmes ceased publication and Richer retired from the feminist movement.
Le Droit des Femmes had been one of the longest-running feminist journals of the 19th century.
It was mentioned as one of the eight main journals of the century in Alison Finch's "Women's Writing in Nineteenth-Century France".