Diary of Marie Bashkirtseff
CZENUKFR

Wednesday, 16 February 1881

I go to the Droit des femmes1 this evening. They debate whether to participate in the Victor Hugo celebration. Seven against, six in favour. The six citizens delivered enormous speeches. Citizen Bal (the man with the improbable head) attacks Victor Hugo and declares loudly that with leisure and money he might perhaps have done as much.

Je vais au Droit des femmes ce soir. On discute si l'on va participer à la fête de Victor Hugo. Sept contre, six prononcent oui. Les six citoyens ont débité des raisons immenses. Le citoyen Bal (l'homme à la tête invraisemblable) *tombe* Victor Hugo et déclare hautement qu'avec des loisirs et de l'argent il en aurait fait peut-être autant.

Naturally Hubertine2 votes for participation — so do I. I speak little, a few phrases only. Then left alone with Hubertine, we speak of the matter. She is extremely moderate [struck through: I cannot understand it]. And she is always cited alongside Louise Michel in the right-thinking newspapers. What clichés and routine can do. Ah, what misery!

Naturellement Hubertine vote pour la participation, moi aussi. Je parle peu, quelques phrases seulement. Puis restée seule avec Hubertine nous causons de la chose. Elle est extrêmement modérée [Rayé: je ne comprends pas]. Et on la cite toujours avec Louise Michel dans les journaux *bien pensants.* Ce que c'est que les clichés, la routine. Ah ! misère !

Notes

Droit des femmes (Women's Rights): founded by Léon Richer and Maria Deraismes in 1869, this was one of France's first organised feminist associations, focusing on legal and civil equality rather than the vote. Marie attended its public meetings in early 1881. ↩
Hubertine Auclert (1848–1914): radical French suffragist, founder of La Citoyenne (1881), who argued for women's full political rights including the vote — going further than Richer and Deraismes. Her association with the more dramatic Louise Michel in the conservative press was a caricature that frustrated Marie. ↩