Unsung Women Federal Leaders Within the Labour Sport Federation in France, from Its Establishment to the Second Post-war Period

Abstract

When the French labour sport federation was created in December 1934, it was announced that women would be integrated into the federal leadership. This ambition was a real challenge in a deeply patriarchal society. However, despite this announcement, only a handful of women held federal positions throughout the following decade. In the literature, only men are remembered for their contribution to the construction and the development of the labour sport movement in France. The scarcity of women and their secondary positions led them to become increasingly anonymous and silenced over the decades. Women’s trajectories to leadership were strongly challenged both by familial considerations during the second half of the 1930s, including within communist and socialist movements, and by the Nazi occupation during World War 2. Hence, this analysis allows for a better understanding of women’s life trajectories, from their role in the labour sport to their war experiences.