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Index
abdominal tuberculosis, 168–69, 275–76n84
frequency of, 45
La Fronde merger with, 63–64, 72, 84
Par la révolte staged by, 102
Roussel’s articles in, 70, 86, 87, 89–90, 91, 108
Action des femmes, L’, 210
Action française, 217
Addams, Jane, 181
Alliance national pour l’accroissement de la population française. See National Alliance for the French Population Growth
Alquier, Henriette, 34
Amour infécond, L’ (Elosu), 146, 147
anarchists, 27, 53, 57, 66–67, 71, 100, 109, 111, 112, 114, 138, 174, 220
anesthesia. See childbirth; Lucas, Dr.
Anesthesiology Establishment, 87–88, 89
Annales de l’Ariège, Les, 72, 90
and freethinking, 62
of Godet, 25–26
Roussel’s critique of, 64
anti-Malthusianism. See depopulation; natalist movement; neo-Malthusianism; pronatalism
anti-pornography: Second Congress of the French Federation of Anti-Pornographic Societies, 163. See also pornography
Armogathe, Daniel, 250
Assumptionists, 20
audiences, 2, 11, 12, 84, 133–34
for GONM debate, 160
for neo-Malthusians, 164
in provinces, 100–101
Roussel, reactions to, 102–3, 105–8
Talsans on, 80
Barnes, David, 236
Beauvoir, Simone de, 12, 253n27
Belmont, Marguerite. See Marbel (Marguerite Belmont)
Bentham, Jeremy, on birth control, 4
Bérenger, Henry, 102, 112, 139, 218
Bérenger, René (Senator), 145, 147, 152
Bertillon, Jacques, 36, 41, 72
Bertillon, Louis-Adolphe, 36
vs. abstinence, 4
Enlightenment thinkers on, 4
female emancipation through, 45–46
freethinkers and, 62–63
history of, 3–5
legalization of, 249
methods of, 4, 43–45, 54, 116, 245–48, 256n4, 289n19
moral justification for, 68
opposition to, 117–18
and science, 32–33. See also neo-Malthusianism
birth control clinics, 246, 248
Robin and, 41
spread of, 4. See also neo-Malthusianism
birthrate: comparative national, 36
in provinces, 104. See also demography; depopulation; fertility
Blanc de Saint Bonnet, 6
Boisandré, A. de, 58–59
Bolshevism, 209, 210, 211, 214, 216, 221
Bossuet, Jacques-Bénigne, 32
bourgeoisie: and birth control, 65, 67, 117, 146–47, 165
and childbirth, 57
and degeneration, belief in, 14
feminists of, 39, 66, 210, 221
Roussel’s critique of, 215
and wetnursing, 88
and womanhood, conceptions of, 9, 36
breast-feeding, 38, 89, 257n43
Briande, Aristide, 140
Buisson, Ferdinand, 220
Burton, Richard D. E., 6–7
Caillaux, Joseph, 136
Carlile, Richard, 4
Cassagnac, Guy de, 115, 116, 120
Cassagnac Affair, 114–17, 118, 120, 129, 148
Catholicism, 2
and conservatism after World War I, 213–14, 224
images of womanhood in, 21
Roussel and, 13–14, 20, 22, 39, 56, 60–61, 103–5
women’s churchgoing and, 86–87, 109, 157–58
women’s roles in, 6–7. See also religion
Cempuis affair, 42, 43, 50, 79, 83, 128, 163, 165
censorship: of neo-Malthusianists, 116–18, 145–48, 165, 218
during World War I, 174–75, 176–78, 277n20
CGT. See General Confederation of Labor
Charbonnel, Victor, 62
Chartists, 4
Cheysson, Emile, 6
childbirth: anesthesia for, 33–34, 87–88, 90–91
pain of, 1, 32–34, 37, 48, 49, 55, 57, 61, 68, 87–88, 90–91, 103, 107, 108, 137
postpartum care and, 34
childrearing, practices of, 130–32, 270n88
Civil (Napoleonic) Code (1804), women’s rights under, 20, 92, 105, 251n3
Clémenceau, Georges, 140
clergy. See anticlericalism; Catholicism
Communism, 210
feminism and, 221–22. See also Bolshevism
Communist Party, on birth control, 249, 289n28
conservatives and conservatism: backlash by, 73
criticisms of Roussel, 58–60, 78
Darnaud and, 119
French government and, 213–14
consumerism, 15
contraception. See birth control; neo-Malthusianism
Control des naissances et la malaise conjugal, La (Leclerq), 248
Converset, Jean, 47, 213, 224, 234
Courtois, Auguste. See Liard-Courtois (August Courtois)
Cova, Ann, 244
Cremnitz, Blanche. See Parrhisia (Blanche Cremnitz)
Croix de bois, les (Dorgelès), 208
crowd behavior, 206, 280–81n71
Talsans on, 80
culture. See popular culture
Danjou, Dr., 137–38, 142, 149, 166
Darnaud, Émile, 71–72, 87, 90–91, 109
on birth control, 152
friendship and opinions of, 118–19, 264n73
opposition to Roussel, 117–18
on Roussel’s health, 154
Roussel’s speaking tour of 1905 and, 94–95
war sentiments of, 136
during World War I, 173
Davy, Charlotte, 12, 222–23, 228, 229, 234, 285–86n59
Débat, 43
De la douleur (Blanc de Saint-Bonnet), 6–7
demography: in fin de siècle, 5
national comparisons of, 7
politicization of, 3
after World War I, 207. See also birthrates; depopulation; population
depopulation: crisis of, 11, 33, 35–36, 38, 44, 48, 54, 145, 153, 161, 165, 219
and Roussel, 114, 115, 128. See also birthrate; demography; neo-Malthusianism; population; pronatalism
Derniers combats, 243
Derogy, Jacques, 248
Déroulede, Paul, 123
Dorgelès, Roland, 208
Dreyfus, Marguerite. See Hellé (Marguerite Dreyfus)
Dreyfus Affair, 11, 14, 23–26, 27, 36, 40, 66
Dreyfusards, as freethinkers, 62
Drous, Noëlie, 234, 235, 237, 243
Drumont, Édouard, 11, 24, 260n90
Duchmann, Henri, 64–67, 75, 109
Durand, Marguerite, 40, 52, 57, 63, 69, 70, 72, 73, 86, 92, 152, 223, 227
Roussel’s illness and death, 235–36, 287n78
Éclaireuses, Les (Donnay), 166–67
education: Catholic, 80
coeducation and, 79
in 1880s and 1890s, 21
physical education for women, 65–66
at popular universities, 27–28
religious, 16
Robin on, 41–42
Roussel on, 39
Éducation sexuelle (Marestan), 220
Émile (Rousseau), 112
Enfance heureuse, L’, 209–10, 239
England. See Britain
Roussel on, 47
vs. sexual differences, 46–47. See also gender
Équité, L’, 176–77
Essay on the Principle of Population (Malthus), 4
éternel féminin, 2, 6, 9–10, 12, 244, 245, 248, 252n9
in intellectual thought, 67–68, 101
vs. New Woman, 8–12
physiological component of, 112–13
World War I and, 172, 178, 206–7. See also éternelle sacrifiée; womanhood
liberation from, 103–10
after World War I, 209. See also éternel féminin; womanhood
“Éternelle sacrifiée” (lecture), 92, 95, 101, 104, 106, 111–12
eugenics, eugenicists, 42, 117, 215, 243, 246, 283–84n24
Eve (biblical): redemption in childbirth pain, 32–33
Eyssartier, Mathilde, 191–92, 173, 193
Faure, Sébastian, 53, 57, 60, 114
Faust (Goethe), eternal feminine in, 6
Faute d’Eve, La (Roussel), 169–70
Federation of Lay Youth, 62
Federation of Neo-Malthusian Worker Groups (GONM), 159–61
femininity: and feminism, 39
qualities of, 20
of Roussel, 115–16. See also womanhood; women
“Feminism and Fecundity” (Roussel), 48
feminism and feminists: birth control and, 120, 246
breast-feeding and, 89
on childbirth pain, 34
and communists, 221–22
declining birthrate and, 37
freethinking and, 61–68, 84–85
ideology of, 38–39
of “integral” (“individualist”), 38–39
meanings of, 2–3
neo-Malthusianism and, 5
postwar, 209–14
radical, 39–40
Roussel and, 1, 2, 13–14, 45–49, 60, 86–87, 103–9, 110–11, 137–38, 209–14, 264n63
Second wave, 249–50
socialists, 261n10
in Third Republic, 37–40
in World War I, 175–78
post-World War I, 210–14. See also Fraternal Union of Women (UFF)
Femme affranchie, La, 87
fertility: decline in, 7, 253n22
in 1860s and 1870s, 36. See also birthrate; depopulation
flu epidemic of 1918, 200–201, 203, 207
Fontainebleau, 149, 191, 192, 193, 205, 206, 226
France, Anatole, 140
France juive, La (Drumont), 24
Fraternal Union of Women (UFF), 40–41, 132, 137–38, 209. See also feminism and feminists
freedom of motherhood (liberté de maternité), 55, 95, 101, 103–4, 106–7
Freemasons, 27, 28, 58, 74, 92, 102, 259n81
freethinkers and free thought, 25, 52, 59, 71, 72, 78, 84, 86, 92, 103, 119, 123, 140, 224
in audiences, 100, 101, 102, 104
International Congress of, 71, 102
misogyny of, 63–68
opposition to Roussel, 111–13
Roussel on feminism within, 64–65
Roussel’s criticism of, 64–65, 90, 108–9, 210, 214
Roussel’s 1904 tour sponsored by, 73–77, 97
“French universalism,” 66
feminist nature of, 261n8
merger with L’Action, 63–64, 72, 84
Roussel’s contributions to, 70, 176
workers and, 73
Gatti de Gamond, Isabelle, 102
Gauthier de Clagny, 135, 136, 137, 145
difference in, 3
lecture on equality of, 99–100
left-wing thinking about, 66–68
Revolutions and, 5–7
Robin on, 41–42
in Third Republic, 30
World War I and, 172. See also womanhood; women
General Confederation of Labor (CGT), 138, 159, 220
Génération conscient, 138, 146, 151–52
Germany, 6, 7, 136–37. See also World War I
Giroud, Gabriel (pseud. Georges Hardy), 139, 146, 214, 216, 217, 283n21
Godet, André (NR’s son), 49
activities of, 81
business affairs of, 122, 140–41, 183, 187–88, 198–99, 205
bust of Nelly and Mireille, 81
death of, 241
death of son André, 49–50
and Duchmann’s polemic, 66
as freethinker, 62
management and marketing of Roussel’s career, 9, 85, 86, 98, 123
Marcel and, 130–31, 143–44, 190–91, 240
marriage of, 27, 31, 126–29, 270n82, 272n18, 275n82
Mireille and, 190, 193–94, 232–33
Montupet and, 182–85, 207, 232
opposition to Roussel’s public neo-Malthusianism, 48, 50–51, 53–54, 57, 59–60, 120
Roussel, romantic feelings for, 24–27, 167, 233, 275n82
Roussel, strains with, 127–29, 185–86, 199
Roussel, support for, 84–85, 264–65n78
Roussel’s final illness and death, 231–34
Roussel’s health and, 51, 74, 154, 162, 183, 227, 231–34
Roussel’s tours and, 95, 96, 122–23
as sculptor, 23, 25, 50, 81, 139–40, 240–41
during World War I, 182–83, 196–97
Godet, Jules (HG’s father), 26
Godet, Juliette (HG’s sister), 41. See also Robin, Juliette
Godet, Marcel (“Nono”), 129–30, 143–44, 190–91, 281n74
birth of, 88
correspondence by, 172, 279n51
death of, 240
difficulties with, 125–26, 130–31
education of, 205
Henri’s relationship with, 126–34, 190–91, 279n51, 279n52
living arrangements for, 88, 89, 96, 121, 124–26, 162
after Roussel’s death, 240
Roussel’s relationship with, 126–34, 191, 193–94, 199, 228–29, 230, 241–42
during World War I, 190–91
Godet, Mireille, 37, 50, 74–75, 81, 121, 250
correspondence by, 172
education of, 189, 197, 195, 198, 205
living arrangements for, 70–71, 96, 124, 125, 162, 242
relationship with parents, 126–34, 193
after Roussel’s death, 237–38, 239–40
Roussel’s illness and, 151, 229–30, 232–33
Gohier, Urbain, 177
GONM (Fédération des groups ouvriers néo-malthusiens). See Federation of Neo-Malthusian Worker Groups
Grande Réforme, La, 243
Great War. See World War I
Grève des ventres, La (Kolney), 146
grève des ventres (strike of wombs), 55, 67
Halperin, David, 113
Hardy, Georges. See Giroud, Gabriel
Harlor (Jeanne Perrot), 38, 40
Hellé (Marguerite Dreyfus), 40, 129
honor (and male codes of), 17–19, 60, 66, 116, 120, 129, 137, 260n90
and World War I, 177, 180, 200, 207, 217
Hugo, Victor, 28, 11, 128, 202
Humanité, L’, 123–24, 176, 218
Humbert, Eugène, 53, 81, 138–39, 145–46, 147–48, 151, 171, 220, 248
Humbert, Jeanne, 59, 171, 243, 248
Humbert, Maria, 53
Huot, Marie, 55
Huss, Marie-Monique, 219
“Impressions of a Melancholy Day” (Roussel), 28–29, 36, 37
infant mortality, 263n56
birth control and, 4–5
breast-feeding and, 89
“integral education,” Robin on, 41
International Council on Women, 86
International Feminist Congress (1896), 39, 43
International Women’s Congress (1915), 181
Jews and Judaism: birth control associated with, 219
blamed for French depopulation, 153–54
Dreyfus Affair and, 23–24
Godet and, 26. See also anti-Semitism
Joan of Arc, 19–20
Jouenne, Alice, 223
Kauffmann, Caroline, 65, 70, 111, 175, 210
Kergomard, Pauline, 110, 267n33
Kollontai, Alexandra, 221
labor (industrial). See strikes; workers
Laguerre, Odette, 78, 92, 97, 233–34, 239, 243
Lamarzelle, Gustave de (Senator), 217–18
Lambert, Germaine, 132, 210, 233, 239
laws: on Associations, 1901, 80
against birth control, 216–20, 245, 249
censorship, 174–75
on freedom of the press, 145
lois scélérates, 220–21
Neuwirth, 249
on obscenity (“affronts to moral decency”), 145–48
League Against Licentiousness in the Streets, 147, 163
League of Human Regeneration, 42, 54, 57, 114, 117, 159
contraception access through, 43–45
Humbert’s direction of, 53
Lyonnais section of, 77–78
mission statement of, 46
League of the Rights of Man, 24, 49, 64, 92, 130, 160, 220
Le Bon, Gustave, 80, 95, 178, 262n30
lectures, by Roussel: in 1903, 54–55, 57–58, 61, 68, 259n75
in 1904, 72–85
in 1905, 92–98
in 1905–1908, 100–103
in 1908, 141
in 1909, 154–55
in 1912, 162
in 1920, 217
in 1921, 225
admirers and, 261–62n15
apogee of speaking career, 121
after birth of Marcel, 91–92
freedom through, 121–23
hardships during tours, 270n81
popularity in France, 84
private life and (1905–1908), 121–26.
Titles of: “On the Education of Girls” (“Sur l’education des jeunes filles”), 39
“Éternelle sacrifiée” (“She Who Is Always Sacrificed”), 92, 95, 101, 104, 106, 111–12
“Fertile Love, Sterile Love” (“Amour fécund, amour stérile”), 54, 72, 101
“Freedom of Motherhood” (“La Liberté de maternité”), 68, 143
“Many Children?” (“Beaucoup d’enfants?”), 101, 115
“Let’s Create the Female Citizen” (“Créons la citoyenne”), 101
“To Save Our Wounded” (“Pour le salut de nos blessés”), 179
“The Socialist Question and Feminism,” 75
“Talk on Feminism,” 46
“To Women,” 87
“Women and Freethinking” (“La Femme et la libre pensée”), 101, 109
“Women’s Suffrage” (“Le Suffrage des femmes”), 101. See also Paroles de combat et d’espoir; Quelques discours
left wing: antimilitarism of, 137
contraception and, 249
“masculinism” of, 210
misogyny of, 63–68
Roussel’s movement toward, 15
silence over anti-birth control law, 220. See also anarchists; Bolshevism; Communism; Freemasons; freethinkers and free thought; neo-Malthusianism; socialism; Socialist Party
legislation. See laws
lesbianism, 112
Levasseur, Émile, 140
Lévy, Emmanuel, 97
Liard-Courtois (Auguste Courtois), 53, 145, 147–48
liberté de maternité (freedom of motherhood), 55, 58–59, 95, 101, 103–4, 106–7
Libre Parole, La, 58
Libre Pensée internationale, La, 178, 179, 181, 214
lois scélérates, 220–21
Lucas, Dr., 87–88, 90, 91, 137
Lysistrata (Aristophanes), 114
Ma forêt (Roussel poems), 171, 193, 204, 205, 206
Magnaud, Paul, 59
Malthus, Thomas, 4, 114, 145, 217
Malthusianism, 41, 58. See also neo-Malthusianism
Marbel (Marguerite Belmont), 40–41, 70, 234–35
Marestan, Jean, 220
Marguerite Durand Library, Roussel’s letters in, 250
Marianne (French republican icon), 21, 56, 211
martyrdom, in Christian theology, 33. See also éternelle sacrifiée
Marx, Magdeleine, 212
“masculinism,” 210
maternal mortality, 29, 255n47
as natural element of womanhood, 101
propaganda about, 57
Roussel on, 56. See also éternel féminin; éternelle sacrifieé; self-sacrifice
Maternité heureuse, 248
Maurel, Bertz, 154–55, 156, 162
McLaren, Angus, 45
Means to Avoid Large Families, 146
medical profession: on breast-feeding, 89
on pain in childbirth, 33–34
Mère éducatrice, La, 202, 221, 237, 239, 243
Meric, Victor, 211
Méricourt, Théroigne de, 115, 268n48
Michaud, Stéphane, 9
Michel, Louise, 14, 15, 27, 53, 92, 115, 226–27, 268n48
Mirabeau, Octave, 268–69n59
Misme, Jane, 119, 149, 268–69n59
Montupet, Antonin, 21–22, 70–71, 75, 121, 131, 132, 133, 187
Roussel and Godet’s relationships with, 183–85
motherhood: birthrate and, 35–36
dehumanization of women through, 108
denaturalization of, 48–49
denial of rights in, 105–6
expectations of, 131–32
feminism, pronatalism, and, 37–52
freedom from, 5, 55, 95, 101, 103–4, 106–7
large families and, 215–16
as part of Roussel’s public image, 97, 98, 120
patriotism and, 171–72
practices of, 131–32, 270–71n88
republican mothers and, 4
of Roussel, 241–42
Roussel’s image vs. behavior, 126–34
Roussel’s private life and, 120–26
Third Republic notions of, 32
woman’s role in, 3–4
women’s bodies and, 63
Mouvement de liberation des femmes (MLF), 249–50
Mouvement français pour le planning familial, 248
Moyens d’éviter la grossesse (Hardy), 146
Moyens d’éviter les grandes familles, 43–44
Napoleonic Code. See Civil (Napoleonic) Code
Naquet, Alfred, 142
natalist movement, 36. See also depopulation; pronatalism
National Alliance for the French Population Growth, 36, 218
National Association of Freethinkers of France, 62
National Bloc, 214
National Congress of Free Thought, Roussel’s lecture at, 64, 109, 260n85
national defense, reproduction and, 219
nationalism: anti-Malthusianism and, 163
religion and, 224
resurgence of, 136–37
nature: freethinkers on, 109
Nel, Andrée (NR’s sister), 16, 21, 50, 82–83, 87, 122, 124, 125–26, 129–30, 140, 143, 149, 150, 151, 162, 167, 173, 179, 183, 191, 194, 242
Nel, Jules and Ninie (NR’s cousins), 83, 122
Nel, Louise (NR’s mother), 15–16, 52, 121, 132, 133, 149, 183, 184, 189, 197, 237
Nel, Paul (NR’s cousin and brother-in-law), 50, 124, 125, 129–30, 162, 167, 183, 187
Nel, Thomas (NR’s grandfather), 16, 20, 22, 37, 50, 74, 83, 121
anti-birth control law and, 220
anti-pornography and, 163–65
contraception and, 4
Darnaud’s opposition to, 72
debate against, 160–61
fears of, 137
and Federation of Neo-Malthusian Worker Groups (GONM), 159–61
and feminism, 5
Godet’s discomfort with, 50–51, 57–58, 120, 138
government propaganda against, 216–17
Humbert, Eugène, and, 53, 81, 138–39
law of July, 1920, and, 214–22
persecution of, 145–48
post-World War I, 214–22
Roussel and, 5, 58, 60, 117–18, 120, 138, 153, 209
splintering of movement, 138–39
women and, 54
working-class women and, 284n28
World War I and, 171. See also birth control; birth control movement
néo-Malthusien, Le, 214
neurasthenia, 155–56, 168, 184, 194, 204
Neurasthenia (Ballet), 155
Neuwirth Law, 249
“new biography,” 2
newspapers. See press
Nono. See Godet, Marcel (“Nono”)
obscenity laws, 145–48
Offen, Karen, 37–38
pacifism, 10
Paris Commune, 14–15, 20, 41, 115, 253n22
Par la révolte, 56–57, 61, 70, 72, 93, 258n64
Paroles de combat et d’espoir (expanded re-issue of Quelques discours), 206, 213
Parrhisia (Blanche Cremnitz), 40, 107
“Passion du jeu, La” (Roussel), 18
paternity suits. See recherche de la paternité
patriarchy, concept of, 65
Pau, Marie-Edmée, 19–20
Péguy, Charles, 8
Pelletan, Camille, 83–84
Pelletier, Madeleine, 27, 34, 65, 120, 164, 211, 248
Perrot, Jeanne. See Harlor (Jeanne Perrot)
Petit, Gabrielle, 70, 87, 92, 120, 146
physical education, for women, 65–66
Pioch, Georges, 211
planned parenthood, 247
plays, by Roussel. See La Faute d’Eve; Par la révolte; “La Passion du jeu”; Pourquoi elles vont à l’église; “La Soeur de Comte Jean”
playwriting, 56
poems, by Roussel, 171, 193, 204, 205, 206. See also Ma forêt
Poincaré, Raymond, 136–37, 174
contraception and, 246
Roussel’s lectures and, 78
popular culture, 15, 19–20, 21
popular universities, 26, 27–29, 46
population: birthrate and, 245
Darnaud on, 72
decline of, 35–36
European, 7
Roussel on crisis of, 11
statistics on, 114–15
after World War I, 207. See also depopulation; neo-Malthusianism; pronatalism
pornography, neo-Malthusianism equated with, 45, 147, 153, 218
Godet business in, 187
pronatalist, 219
post–World War I: culture of, 207–9
commemoration in, 208–9
feminism in, 209–14
Roussel on, 214–15
and war monuments, 208–9
Pouponnière de Porchefontaine, 87, 88, 89, 124, 125, 241–42
Pourquoi elles vont à l’église (Roussel), 156–58, 159
Poussard, Dr., 231–32
pregnancy, 258n63
birth control and, 4
Bossuet on, 32
damage to women’s bodies through, 107
impact of avoidance on women’s nature, 113–14
medical care for, 87
unwanted, 108–9
from World War I rapes, 207–8. See also Roussel, Nelly
press: condemnation of birth control by, 216
conservative criticisms of Roussel by, 58–60
feminist, 63–64
left-wing characterizations of Roussel in, 60
Roussel’s speeches covered by, 153–54. See also under specific newspapers
pronatalism, 36
female contraception and, 45
motherhood, feminism, and, 37–41
Roussel’s reactions to, 108–9
after World War I, 209, 218–19. See also depopulation
pronatalists, 8, 36, 37, 45, 61, 107, 131, 165, 218
Proudhon, Pierre, 67
provinces: feminists in, 104–5
Roussel’s speaking tours in, 72–85, 92–96, 99–101, 103–8
Psychology of Crowds (Le Bon), 262n30
publicity: for 1904 speaking tour, 75–76, 77, 81, 85
for 1905 speaking tour, 96–97
puerperal fever, 29
pulmonary tuberculosis. See tuberculosis
Quelque lances rompues pour nos libertés (Roussel), 150
Quelques discours (Roussel), 126, 129, 141, 159, 206
Question de la dépopulation en France, La (Piot), 48
Rachel (Elisa Felix), 16
radical feminists, 39–40
rape, in World War I, 207–8
Rauze, Marianne, 211
recherche de la paternité, 138, 152
Régénération (periodical), 42, 46, 53, 138, 139
Par la révolte (play) published by, 57
Roussel’s contributions to, 54, 70
religion: banning instruction from schools, 115
Dreyfus Affair and, 23–24
left wing and, 68
and Noël humaine, 224–25
in provincial speeches, 105
role in women’s lives, 109, 110
Roussel’s challenges to, 60–61. See also Catholicism; freethinkers and free thought
reproduction: female sexuality and, 12, 112
as labor, 55
national defense and, 219
rates of, 7
Robin on control over, 42
women defined by, 12
women’s control of, 117. See also birth control; childbirth; pregnancy
citizenship rights and, 1–2
Darnaud on, 91
in Lyon lecture, 78
Roussel’s views on, 47–49. See also birth control; neo-Malthusianism
republicanism and republicans: Dreyfus Affair and, 23–24
ideology of, 6
and women, 9
revolutions: of 1789, 5, 8, 67, 112
of 1830, 6
of 1848, 6
of 1871, 6, 14–15, 20, 41, 115, 253n22
in French political culture, 5–7
Revue socialiste, 114
Reynaud, Collette, 211
right wing: anti-Semitism of, 153
militarism of, 136–37
neo-Malthusians and, 146
opposition from, 114–18
after World War I, 213–14, 218. See also pronatalism
Roberts, Mary Louise, 208, 219
Robin, Fritz, 41, 57, 131, 187, 205
Robin, Juliette, 57, 131, 205, 206, 240
Robin, Louise, 131
Robin, Maurice, 131
Robin, Michel, 242
Robin, Paul, 5, 41–45, 70, 131, 138, 139, 256n20
Cempuis affair and, 42, 43, 50–51, 79, 163
Darnaud and, 72
feminist hostility toward, 43
Humbert and, 53
ideology of, 41–45
neo-Malthusianism and, 120
Roussel as disciple of, 45–49
Roussel’s speeches for, 53–54
suicide of, 165
Rolland, Romain, 211
Ronsin, Françis, 159
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 66, 112, 119
Roussel, Léon (NR’s father), 15, 16, 21
Roussel, Louise Nel. See Nel, Louise
Roussel, Nelly: audiences of, 2, 11, 12, 84, 100–103, 106–8, 133–34, 160
birth of, 13
career, successes of, 121, 133–34
and Catholicism, 13–14, 20, 22, 39, 56, 60–61
conversion of, 13–14
death of, 233–34
on depopulation crisis, 11
finances, 124, 133, 139–41, 143–44, 183, 187, 277n29, 286n62
Godet’s bust of, 81–82
and grandfather (Thomas Nel), 16, 20, 22, 68–69, 74, 142
health of, 49, 53, 70, 135–36, 149–58, 162–63, 165–66, 167–70, 183–86, 194, 195–97, 201–2, 225–34
heroes and heroines of, 18, 31–32
ideology, shaping of, 45–49
legacy of, 243–50
Lyon, family move to, 200–203, 281n73
and Marcel, 130, 143–44, 150–51, 191, 193
marriage of, 27, 31, 126–29, 270n82, 272n18, 275n82
and Mireille, 37, 52, 70–71, 82, 120–21, 124, 131, 151, 190, 230, 237–38, 242
and mother (Louise Nel), 133
as mother, 28–32, 120, 124, 126, 131–32
opposition to, 98, 110–18, 144–45
parents of, 15–16
pregnancies, 28–30, 49, 68–69, 71, 82–83, 87–88
private life of, 120–26
public image, creation of, 97, 98, 120, 126, 150
religious imagery, use of, 103–4
Royer, Clémence, 140, 142, 187, 240–41
“Sacred Union.” See Union sacrée
sacrifice (female), 32–33, 101. See also childbirth; éternelle sacrifiée
Saint-Simonianism, 38
Sanger, Margaret, 246–47, 289n21
“School of Propagandists,” 223–24
schoolteachers: and l’Action des femmes, 210
as audience of Roussel, 73, 76, 78, 85, 100, 103, 104, 106
and Darnaud, 71–72
Robin on, 41–42
in neo-Malthusian doctrine, 46, 54, 148, 163
in Roussel’s doctrine, 61, 63, 69, 90–91, 108–9, 115
Roussel’s faith in, 169, 193, 237
sculpture, by Godet: 25, 27, 139, 187, 240–41
Clémence Royer statue, 140, 142, 187, 240–41
mother-daughter bust, 81–82, 90
Second Sex (de Beauvoir), 12
self-sacrifice, 101, 177. See also éternelle sacrifiée
servants, 51–52, 130, 143, 280n58, 283n12. See also Eyssartier, Mathilde
Séverine (journalist), 59, 210
sexology, 8
sexual differences, 3
Roussel on, 46–47. See also gender
sexual emancipation, 42
sexuality: bourgeois attitude toward, 15
education about women’s bodies and, 61
hierarchy created through, 113
secrecy surrounding, 255n45
separation from reproduction, 12
theories about, 8–9
women’s control of, 112
sexual pleasure: women’s right to, 5, 8, 54, 148, 164, 237
sexual repression, 4–5
Sherman, Daniel, 208
Sicard de Plauzolles, Dr., 159
Simon, Jules, 6
single mothers (fille mères), 59, 105–6
socialism: and feminism, 65, 124, 223, 261n10
and popular universities, 28
Robin and, 41
Roussel on feminism and, 46
after World War I, 210
Socialist Party, 123, 124, 210
“Soeur de Comte Jean, La” (Roussel), 17–18
Soviet Union, Roussel’s homage to, 221
Spanish flu. See flu epidemic of 1918
speaking tours. See lectures
Stopes, Marie, 246
strikes: in France (1904–1907), 73, 106
by women, against childbearing, 55
suffering: birth control and, 117
in Christian theology, 33
of women, 106–8. See also éternelle sacrifiée; self-sacrifice
suffrage. See voting rights
Talsans, Léonie, 78–80
teachers. See schoolteachers
Third Catholic Congress of the Gospel, 144–45
Third Republic: feminism in, 37–38
images of womanhood, 21
journalism in, 66
Michelet and gender roles in, 6
Roussel’s theories as threat to, 2
women’s voting rights during, 63
Thomas, Albert, 187
Thulié, Henri, 38
Trois conférences de Nelly Roussel, 243
tuberculosis, 275–76n84
as cause of women’s deaths, 30
non-pulmonary, 275–76n84
of Roussel, 10, 168–69, 227–28, 229–30
woman’s suffering and, 236–37
UFF (Union fraternelle des femmes). See Fraternal Union of Women
Union sacrée, 10, 174, 175, 214
United States: birth control movement in, 5
political evolution in, 6
radical feminists in, 67. See also Sanger, Margaret
universités populaires. See popular universities
Vernet, Madeleine, 34, 202, 240, 241, 243, 244–45, 281n80
Vichy France: eternal feminine and, 244
Voix des femmes, La, 211–12, 214, 221, 222–23, 224, 230, 237, 243
voting rights, 39
feminist meeting about, 273n42
during Third Republic, 63
for women, 244
war: as crime of men, 212–13
Roussel on, 10
women’s opposition to, 180–82. See also World War I
Werth, Léon, 211
wet nurses, 88–89
Wolf family, 57, 187, 202, 213
Wollstonecraft, Mary, 47
womanhood, 2
Catholic concept of, 6–7
definitions of, 39, 252n9, 252n12
Roussel’s conception of, 5
secular and religious notions of, 101. See also gender; motherhood; women
wombs on strike. See grève des ventres (strike of wombs)
women: birthrate and, 36–37
of bourgeoisie, 15
causes of death of, 30
civic courage of, 33
Civil Code, 20, 92, 105, 251n3
Darnaud on, 118–19
as eternally sacrificed, 10
in freethinkers’ associations, 62
in French revolutions, 6
images of, 20–21
liberation from motherhood, 5
as mothers, 8
nature of, 3–4
neurasthenia among, 155–56
opposition to war by, 180–82
physical education for, 65–66
and sacrifice in Judeo-Christian tradition, 32
sacrifice of self by, 30
sexual emancipation of, 4
World War I commemorations of, 208–9
“Women and War” (Roussel), 212
workers: in audiences, 100–101, 103, 106
contraception and, 4
in Montupet’s factory, 132
Roussel’s addresses to, 73
strikes of 1904–1907 by, 73
unrest of, 15
women in men’s jobs, 172
World War I, 171–204
bombardment of Paris, 194–95
casualties and destruction in, 282n3
censorship during, 174–75, 176–78, 277n20
European fertility decline after, 7
German occupation of, 207–8
Marne, Battle of the, 174, 188–89
rapes during, 207–8
rescue dogs, 179–80
women’s activities during, 175, 179–80, 282n8. See also post–World War I
Zetkin, Clara, 221
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