Gustave Eiffel decided to adorn the first floor of his tower, built in 1889, with a frieze featuring, in gold letters, "the names of the greatest scientists who have honored France from 1789 to the present day." It was a different era: There was not a single woman among the 72 names personally selected by Eiffel. Not even Sophie Germain (1776-1831), who in 1815 received the Grand Prize in Mathematical Sciences from the Academy of Sciences.
These 19th-century scientists are set to be joined in 2027 by 72 female peers. Subject to the necessary authorizations and the complex procedures required to modify a historic monument, their names will also be engraved beneath the first floor, in the same style as the existing ones.
Once the idea was approved by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo – the City owns the monument – a list of names had to be drawn up. A commission was formed in 2025, led by Isabelle Vauglin, vice president of the Femmes et Sciences ("Women and Science") organization, and Jean-François Martins, president of the Eiffel Tower's operating company. The organization, which works to highlight women scientists who remain too little known, has supported this project since 2021. It solicited numerous research institutes and learned societies to gather their suggestions.
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