Diary of Marie Bashkirtseff
CZENUKFR

Wednesday, 16 February 1881

I go to the Droit des femmes 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.
Naturally Hubertine 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 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!

Notes

Le Droit des femmes: the society Hubertine Auclert founded in 1876 (renamed Le Suffrage des femmes in 1883), which campaigned for women’s political rights including the vote (en.wikipedia «Hubertine Auclert»). Marie attended its weekly meetings as «Pauline Orell» (8 December 1880). ↩
Hubertine Auclert (1848–1914), French suffragist, founder of La Citoyenne (1881). ↩