International Women's Day: 7 Unique and Inspiring Women

On this International Women's Day, we wanted to highlight 10 inspiring and unique women. All different. And yet, each in their own way, they have changed how we see the world and advanced the position of women. Their common thread: a singular way of observing, of creating with profound freedom, determination, and audacity.

JEANNE BARRET (1740-1807)

Jeanne Barret is the first known woman to have circumnavigated the globe. A botanist working in the shadows, she participated in one of the great scientific adventures of the 18th century, at a time when women were excluded from such expeditions.

She was born in 1740 in Burgundy to a modest family. From an early age, she was familiar with plants, their uses, and their properties. Her botanical knowledge led her to work alongside the naturalist Philibert Commerson, becoming his assistant, collaborator, and companion.

In 1766, when Commerson embarked on Bougainville's circumnavigation expedition, women were forbidden on royal navy ships. Jeanne Barret decided to disguise herself as a man under the name Jean Baré to participate in the voyage. During the expedition, she collected, classified, and transported hundreds of plant species under often extreme conditions.

Her identity was eventually discovered during the journey. Despite this, she continued the expedition, thus making history as the first woman to have circumnavigated the world. Long invisible in official accounts, she now embodies all those who had to circumvent prohibitions to take part in the history of science.

Brave, brilliant, and determined, Jeanne Barret reminds us that many women contributed to the knowledge of living things without always being recognized for their rightful place.

To learn more: Jeanne Barret, the Adventurer of the Seas; The Discovery of Jeanne Baret by Glynis Ridley.

EMILY DICKINSON (1830-1886)

Emily Dickinson is one of the greatest American poets. She wrote an immense, free, and deeply modern body of work, much of which remained secret for a long time.

She was born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a cultivated and influential New England family. From an early age, she was passionate about writing, reading, nature, and great metaphysical questions. She composed poems of a radically unique form, far from the literary conventions of her time.

Over the years, Emily Dickinson led an increasingly reclusive life in the family home. She wrote in relative solitude about death, absence, desire, time, the invisible, but also about flowers, birds, gardens, and seasons. During her lifetime, she published very little.

After her death in 1886, her sister Lavinia discovered nearly 1800 poems carefully preserved in notebooks. The literary world then discovered a voice of striking modernity, made of brief verses, silences, dashes, and dazzling images.

In her private life, Emily Dickinson remained shrouded in mystery. Her romantic life remained very secret. Her withdrawal from the world was not an effacement, but another way of inhabiting life, with rare intensity. Discreet, radical, and visionary, Emily Dickinson transformed poetry into a space of absolute freedom.

"To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee. One clover, and a bee, and revery."

To learn more: Emily Dickinson, The Complete Poems; the film A Quiet Passion by Terence Davies; My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun if you want a more sensitive approach.

Emily Dickinson, daguerreotype circa 1847

GEORGE SAND (1804-1876)

George Sand, born Amantine Aurore Dupin, was a major French writer of the 19th century. A novelist, essayist, journalist, and intellectual, she established her voice in a literary and political world largely dominated by men.

She was born in Paris in 1804. From an early age, she rejected the constraints imposed on women of her time. To publish and be taken seriously, she chose a masculine pseudonym: George Sand.

Independent, cultured, and engaged, she led a free, intellectually intense life. She sometimes wore men's clothing to move more easily around Paris, frequented artistic and political circles, took positions on social issues, and defended the freedom to think, write, and love.

Her work is immense: more than sixty novels, plays, political texts, essays, and extensive correspondence. In The Devil's Pool, Fanchon the Cricket, and François the Waif, she celebrated nature, the Berry countryside, the peasant world, and a form of popular wisdom.

Settled in Nohant, her home became a place of creation and gathering where she hosted many artists, including Frédéric Chopin, with whom she had a great love affair.

George Sand blazed a rare trail: that of a woman who chose to live by her own rules, without compromising her thoughts, her work, or her freedom.

"The mind seeks and it is the heart that finds."

To learn more: Story of My Life by George Sand; the special issue of Le Monde dedicated to George Sand; her correspondence with Alfred de Musset or Flaubert.

Portrait of George Sand by Nadar, circa 1864

JANE GOODALL (1934-2025)

Jane Goodall is one of the most influential scientists and activists of the 20th century in understanding the animal world and defending living things.

Born in London in 1934, she was fascinated from a young age by animals and by Tarzan. As a child, she spent hours in a chicken coop to understand how a hen lays an egg. Her dream: to go to Africa to study animals.

With a secretarial diploma in hand, she went to Kenya at 23 and met the famous paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey, who sent her to Tanzania to observe chimpanzees. She then made a discovery that forever marked the scientific world: chimpanzees make and use tools. She also demonstrated that chimpanzees develop complex social relationships, very strong bonds between mothers and young, and that they can show compassion, comfort each other in grief, or adopt an abandoned young.

Her work thus revealed that chimpanzees possess developed intelligence and elaborate social structures. In 1977, she founded the Jane Goodall Institute for the protection of chimpanzees, forests, and biodiversity.

She invites us to observe before judging, to take the time to understand living things, and to recognize that humans are part of a larger, interdependent ecosystem that they must respect and protect.

In her private life, Jane Goodall married twice and had a son, Hugo Eric Louis Van Lawick, born from her first marriage to photographer and filmmaker Hugo Van Lawick. Her second husband, Derek Bryceson, director of Tanzania's national parks, died in 1980.

Jane Goodall died on October 1, 2025, at the age of 91.

"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."

To learn more: Jane by Brett Morgen; the INA documentary "The Woman Who Dedicated Her Life to Chimpanzees"; her book Reason for Hope

RACHEL CARSON (1907 - 1964)

Rachel Carson was a marine biologist, writer, and pioneer of modern ecology. She was also one of the first major environmental whistleblowers.

She was born in 1907 in Pennsylvania, on a farm surrounded by nature. From a very young age, she developed a fascination for animals, plants, and wild landscapes. Her mother encouraged her to observe and write. At ten, she was already publishing her first texts in a children's magazine.

She studied biology and then zoology at Johns Hopkins University, becoming one of the few female scientists of her time. Her first books—Under the Sea-Wind, The Sea Around Us, and The Edge of the Sea—celebrated the beauty and complexity of the oceans. The Sea Around Us became a huge global success and was translated into many languages.

It was in 1962 that she truly shook her era with the publication of Silent Spring. In this work, she revealed the dangers of chemical pesticides, particularly DDT, on birds, soil, water, and human health. She showed how these substances accumulate in the food chain and threaten the balance of life.

The book caused a shockwave. Industrialists tried to discredit her. But her research was solid, and her message found an immense echo in society. Silent Spring marked a major turning point and contributed to global environmental awareness, the progressive ban of DDT in the United States, and the birth of the modern environmental movement.

In her private life, Rachel Carson led a very discreet existence. She lived for a long time with her mother, whom she cared for. She maintained a very strong emotional relationship with Dorothy Freeman, at a time when homosexuality could not be openly acknowledged. She also raised Roger Christie, her deceased niece's son, whom she adopted.

Rachel Carson died in 1964, at the age of 56. Even today, she is considered one of the great voices that changed our perception of nature.

"In nature, nothing exists alone."

To learn more: Rachel Carson, no to the destruction of nature by Isabelle Collombat (Actes Sud Jeunesse, 2021); Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.

GERMAINE CELLIER (1909-1976)

Germaine Cellier is the first great female perfumer in the history of fragrance.

She was born in Bordeaux to a bohemian father and a mother who had to compensate for her husband's excessive spending by working late in life. "What I would like is to create perfumes," she told her parents at 15. Determined to create perfumes, she began chemistry studies at the Scientia school in Auteuil, where she obtained a diploma as a chemistry assistant and bacteriology assistant. She then worked for Roure Bertrand Dupont, later Givaudan, as a perfumer-chemist.

She met couturier Robert Piguet and created her first perfume, Bandit, inspired by Amazons and female pirates. She then carved out a place for herself in this eminently masculine world. In 1945, she created Vent Vert for Balmain, overdosed with galbanum, an audacity often considered foundational for great green perfumes. She then launched Fracas for Robert Piguet, with tuberose notes, celebrated as one of the greatest floral perfumes. Success followed success. Her signature: structured, expressive, overdosed perfumes. She opened her own laboratory in the 1950s in Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Passionate about fashion, she elegantly wore Balmain suits, furs, imposing rings, and hats by her friend Rose Valois. She read Le Canard Enchaîné, listened to Europe 1, drank Johnnie Walker whisky, and smoked Gauloises. She had several love affairs and remained with tennis player Christian Bossus until her death, refusing to marry him.

Both talented, worldly, extravagant, exuberant, determined, and independent, she left her mark on her era and revolutionized the world of perfumery. She continues to inspire many great perfumers today.

"You need character to create."

To learn more: the graphic novel Germaine Cellier, the Audacity of a Perfumer by Sandrine Revel; Nez magazine; the Vanity Fair article published in August 2014.

CHARLOTTE PERRIAND (1903-1999)

Charlotte Perriand was a French architect and designer who profoundly transformed the history of modern design and architecture. A visionary, she had a sensitive view of nature and man's place within it.

She was born in Paris in 1903 into a modest family of artisans: her father was a tailor and her mother a seamstress. Attracted to creation from an early age, she studied at the École de l'Union centrale des arts décoratifs.

In 1927, at just 24, she created Bar sous le toit (Bar under the roof), a bold installation combining aluminum, glass, and steel. Le Corbusier then integrated her into his workshop, after initially telling her: "Here, we don't embroider cushions." She worked there for nearly ten years with him and Pierre Jeanneret. Together, they designed several pieces that became emblematic of modern design.

But Charlotte Perriand very quickly developed her own vision. For her, architecture and design had to meet the real needs of society and improve daily life. She was interested in collective housing, functional furniture, and intelligently designed spaces.

In the 1930s, she became socially and politically involved. In 1940, she went to Japan as an advisor for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This experience profoundly marked her work. There, she discovered Japanese aesthetics, the simplicity of natural materials, the place of emptiness and light.

From the 1960s onwards, she participated in numerous architectural projects, notably the Les Arcs ski resort in Savoie. There, she designed compact, bright, and functional apartments, conceived to offer real living comfort while respecting the landscape.

In her private life, Charlotte Perriand was a free and independent woman. She married for the first time young to Percy Scholenfield, then to Jacques Martin, with whom she had a daughter, Pernette Perriand-Barraud. Passionate about mountains, skiing, and mountaineering, she was deeply inspired by nature in her approach to designing spaces.

Charlotte Perriand died in 1999 at the age of 96. Visionary, committed, and deeply humanistic, she defended throughout her life the idea that architecture and objects must serve humanity and accompany societal developments.

"Architecture and furniture must be at the service of modern life and not an unnecessary luxury."

To learn more: Charlotte Perriand, a Free Woman by Laure Adler; the catalog of the exhibition "The New World of Charlotte Perriand"; her memoirs A Life of Creation.

LEE MILLER (1907-1977)

Lee Miller was an American photographer and war correspondent who marked the history of the 20th century with her free, bold, and deeply human gaze.

She was born in 1907 in Poughkeepsie, New York. At a very young age, she gained recognition as a model and became one of Vogue's faces in the 1920s.

Curious and independent, she refused to remain in front of the lens and decided to go behind it. In Paris, she trained with Man Ray and participated in the surrealist movement. She quickly developed a unique style, blending poetry, modernity, and experimentation.

When World War II broke out, Lee Miller became a war correspondent for Vogue. She photographed the Blitz in London, the liberation of Paris, and the advance of Allied troops in Europe. In 1945, she was one of the first photographers to enter the concentration camps of Buchenwald and Dachau, documenting their horror with heartbreaking clarity.

The same year, she created one of the most famous images in the history of photography: she had herself photographed in Hitler's bathtub in Munich, a few hours after the fall of the Nazi regime.

After the war, deeply marked by what she had seen, Lee Miller gradually withdrew from photography. She settled in England with the painter and art historian Roland Penrose, with whom she had a son, Antony Penrose.

A free woman, adventurer, and artist, Lee Miller lived through her century by refusing assigned roles. Her work, long overshadowed, is now recognized as one of the most powerful photographic testimonies of the 20th century.

"I'd rather take a picture than be one."

To learn more: The Lives of Lee Miller by Antony Penrose; the film Lee Miller; the Lee Miller archives.

WANGARI MAATHAI (1940-2011)

Wangari MAATHAI was a Kenyan biologist and environmental activist born in 1940 into a rural family at the foot of Mount Kenya. As a child, she grew up surrounded by abundant nature: clear rivers, dense forests, and fertile land. This proximity to living things would deeply shape her perspective.

A brilliant student, she received a scholarship and went to study biology in the United States in the 1960s. She then continued her research at the University of Nairobi and in 1971 became the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate.

In the 1970s, she observed the effects of deforestation: impoverished soil, scarcity of firewood, and increasing difficulties for rural populations. In 1977, she founded the Green Belt Movement, a movement that encouraged village women to plant trees to restore land and preserve natural resources.

The project was an immense success. Millions of trees were planted across Kenya, helping to protect soil, water, and biodiversity. But Wangari Maathai also advocated for democracy, human rights, and women's empowerment, openly opposing the authoritarian regime in power.

Her commitment led to several arrests and intimidations, but she continued her fight with determination. In 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, recognizing actions that link environmental protection, social justice, and peace.

A scientist, activist, and visionary, Wangari Maathai showed that planting a tree could also be a political act and a gesture of hope for the future.

"It's the little things citizens do that will make a difference. My little thing is planting trees."

To learn more: Wangari Maathai, The Woman Who Plants Trees by Franck Prévot and Aurélia Fronty; her autobiography Unbowed; the Green Belt Movement website.

GEORGIA O’KEEFFE (1887-1986)

Georgia O’Keeffe is one of the greatest American artists of the 20th century. A painter of nature, flowers, bones, and desert landscapes, she imposed a powerful, free, and deeply personal vision.

She was born in 1887 in Wisconsin, into a farming family. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be an artist. She studied in Chicago and then in New York, but quickly turned away from academism to seek a more intimate and modern expression.

In the 1910s and 1920s, she developed a singular painting style, made of simplified forms, close-ups of flowers, vibrant colors, and almost abstract landscapes. Her work attracted the attention of photographer and gallerist Alfred Stieglitz, whom she married in 1924. Their relationship was as fertile as it was stormy, and Georgia O’Keeffe progressively asserted herself as a major artist in her own right.

From the 1930s, she spent more and more time in New Mexico. There, she found a landscape that matched her: vast, mineral, silent, filled with light. She painted hills, bleached bones, flowers, immense skies. Her work did not seek to represent nature decoratively, but to express its strength, mystery, and presence.

In her private life as in her work, Georgia O’Keeffe cultivated great independence. She chose solitude, the desert, simplicity, and built an existence apart from social expectations.

A free, radical, and magnetic artist, Georgia O’Keeffe opened a singular path in the history of modern art.

"I found I could say things with colors and shapes that I had no words for."

To learn more: Portrait of an Artist: A Biography of Georgia O’Keeffe by Laurie Lisle; the film Georgia O’Keeffe; resources from the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.

We have only included portraits where we could use royalty-free photos.