Eiffel Tower, Once Featuring Only Male Names, to Add 72 Female Scientists Including Marie Curie

City of Paris Collaborates with Association for Women and Science
72 Male Scientists' Names Engraved During Eiffel Tower's Construction
Marie Curie, Sophie Germain Among Those Set to Be Inscribed

The names of female scientists, including Marie Curie, are set to be inscribed on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, which until now has only featured the names of men.

According to Yonhap News, the City of Paris announced in a press release on the 26th (local time) that it had received a list of 72 candidates from SETE, the Eiffel Tower operating company, and the Association for Women and Science.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, covered with snow. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

The list includes Marie Curie, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry, and the renowned French mathematician Sophie Germain. It also features scientists from a variety of fields, ranging from Ang?lique du Coudray, an obstetrician born in 1712, to Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat, a physicist and mathematician who passed away last year. The list will be submitted to the academies of science, technology, and medicine for public consultation. Once finalized, the selected names will be added to the first-floor exterior wall of the Eiffel Tower, alongside the existing male scientists.

The exterior walls of the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, completed in 1889, are engraved in gold with the names of 72 scientists, engineers, and mathematicians across its four sides. All of these individuals were selected personally by Gustave Eiffel, the tower’s designer, for their significant contributions to French scientific advancement up to the 19th century. The list includes Antoine Lavoisier, known as the father of modern chemistry; Andr?-Marie Amp?re, who laid the foundations of modern electromagnetism; and thermodynamicist Sadi Carnot.

However, the fact that all 72 names are male and not a single female scientist is represented has been a longstanding point of criticism. In particular, the omission of Marie Curie, who won Nobel Prizes in both physics and chemistry, and mathematician Sophie Germain, who made major contributions to elasticity theory, has been criticized since the time of the tower’s construction.

In response, last March, the City of Paris launched a scientific committee in collaboration with SETE and the Association for Women and Science. The committee included government representatives, female scientists, cultural heritage experts, Eiffel Tower historians, officials from technical and administrative authorities, and relevant civic groups. They worked to select female scientists whose names would be inscribed on the Eiffel Tower and discussed ways to add these names without damaging Eiffel’s legacy.

Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, stated, “Soon, girls looking up at the Eiffel Tower will be able to dream of becoming doctors, mathematicians, chemists, biologists, and physicists. This is something we should all celebrate.” Isabelle Vauglin, Vice President of the Association for Women and Science, also emphasized, “This is finally an acknowledgment of the role of female scientists and gives them their rightful place in the history of science. This historic measure will serve as an example for other fields where women have yet to gain proper recognition.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.