French officials advise president to nominate 'only women'' in Pantheon

Article here. Excerpt:

'Experts from France's Center for National Monuments (CMN) yesterday handed President Francois Hollande a report recommending he nominate illustrious women only for burial in the nation's Pantheon. Currently, the report pointed out, there is no gender equality in the national mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens, designed by Neoclassical architect Jacques-Gabriel Soufflot in the mid-1700s.

Of the 70 or so distinguished French citizens buried there - including Voltaire and Rousseau, Hugo and Zola, Dumas and Jean Jaures - just two are women: Nobel prize-winning scientist Marie Curie, who is buried next to her husband Pierre, and 19th-century scientist Sophie Berthelot, who is only there on "conjugal virtue": she died just hours before her scientist and politician husband Marcellin, and the two had asked never to be parted.

For CMN Director Philippe Belaval, next to be recognized should be 20th century women who "having demonstrated great personal courage in one or both world wars, have been able to extract from often painful experiences that at times included tortures and deportations, a renewed commitment to the causes of peace, education, and social justice." ''The women we suggest we should render homage to, embody universal battles that are not exclusively feminist ones,'' Belaval added, making it clear that bravery and commitment to democracy are the essential qualities being sought.'