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Annie Sugier

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Annie Sugier
Annie Sugier in 2017
Born (1942-02-21) February 21, 1942 (age 82)
Courcelles-lès-Lens, France
Alma materFaculté des sciences d'Orsay, Université Paris-Saclay
Occupation(s)Nuclear Physicist
Feminist Activist
Political partyPS

Annie Sugier (born 21 February 1942) is a French nuclear physicist. She came to prominence in 1989 as the first woman to be promoted to a directorship at France's "Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission" ("Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives" / CEA). The focus of her responsibilities at the CEA was on the dismantling of nuclear installations. She is better known to many for her role as a committed and eloquent feminist activist. She has served for many years as president of the "Ligue du droit international des femmes" ("International Women's Rights League"), founded in 1983 by her friend and mentor, Simone de Beauvoir.[1][2][3][4][5]

Biography

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Professional

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Annie Sugier was born in Courcelles-lès-Lens, a small town a short distance to the south of Lille in the extreme north of France. At that time Courcelles was still dominated by its coal mine.[6] Her father worked as a chemical engineer: her mother was a nurse.[7] She received her primary schooling in Argentina and Brazil, returning for her secondary schooling to Europe where she attended schools in Spain and France.[8] She received her university-level education at the "Faculté des sciences d'Orsay", part of the Paris-Saclay University, where she obtained her degree in Physics and Chemistry.[9] Sugier then embarked on a career as an industrial chemist, specialising in the reprocessing of radioactive waste, employed as an engineer with the CEA (in a division subsequently reconfigured, and now part of Areva S.A.). She was then appointed to head up the research programmes on the treatment and care of radioactive waste. In 1989 she took charge of the CEA department responsible for the dismantling of nuclear installations, becoming the CEA's first female director. Further promotions followed.[10] In 1992 she oversaw the integration of the "Institute for Nuclear Protection and Safety" (which at that time was an institute under the umbrella of the CEA, and which later, in 2002, was rebranded and relaunched as the now autonomous "Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety Institute" ("Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire" / IRSN). She held the post of "directrice déléguée à la radioprotection" (loosely, "under-director for radioprotection").[9] This meant that she was responsible for evaluating the scientific data needed for setting radioprotection standards.[11] She also held an advisory role on radioprotection in support of the IRSN director general.[9]

Recognised internationally for her radioprotection expertise, she has held a series of specialist posts connected with the European Commission under the auspices of the "Euratom Article 31 experts", as an expert member of the IAEA radioprotection committee, and as an expert member of the technical committee at the ICRP.[12][13] Further recognition was reflected in her appointment by Health and Environment Ministers to presidency, in 1997, of the " Groupe Radioécologie Nord-Cotentin" (GRNC). The creation of this interdisciplinary expert group was a first in the world of nuclear sciences. It came in response to scientific disagreement triggered by an epidemiological study postulating a connection between emissions from the La Hague reprocessing plant and a heightened incidence of Leukaemia among young people in the surrounding neighbourhood. Numerous articles by specialists, sociologist and journalists covering related issues of risk management followed.[14][15] Applying the same model, Sugier then accepted a request by Ministers of Health, Economics and Industry to set up a second interdisciplinary expert group to investigate the old Uranium mines in Limousin (in south-central France), in order to assess their environmental impact.[16]

Within the still resolutely male-dominated Ottawa-based "International Commission on Radiological Protection" (ICRP) she became the first woman to be entrusted with the presidency of one of the technical committees: Committee 4, responsible for regulatory system applications.[17] In this context Sugier took a leading role in producing a new set of ICRP recommendations (Publication 60}[18] and in the drafting of other more specialist publications on emergencies management and land contamination.

She served two terms as a member of the "Scientific Council" at the French parliamentary office for evaluation of scientific and technological choices, of the "Scientific Council" for the Seine-Normandie region and of the influential National Mines Academy.[19][20] She also served two terms as president of the "Scientific Council" at the "Centre d'étude sur l'évaluation de la protection dans le domaine nucléaire" (study centre for evaluation of nuclear protection) at Fontenay-aux-Roses.[21]

Activist

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During the 1970s Annie Sugier engaged with the women's liberation movement. In 1974/75 she was a co-founder of the "Ligue du droit des femmes" ("Women's rights league"), together with Simone de Beauvoir, Vicky Colombet, Anne Zelensky and Annie Cohen.[1][22] In 1978, with backing from Simone Veil, Sugier opened the refuge for battered women at Clichy.[1]

The longstanding president of the "International Women's Rights League" ("Ligue du droit international des femmes" / LDIF), she has tackled on the international level the fashion for invoking of "cultural relativism" as a justification for opposing the universal application of women's rights.[23] She has also taken a lead in combatting violence against young girls with immigrant backgrounds: issues on which she has campaigned include excision, forced expatriation and various classes of "honour crime".[23] A particularly high-profile cause célèbre into which she launched herself became identified by slogan-headline "Mères d’Alger" (loosely, "Mothers of Algiers"):[24] A shared colonial history had left several hundred thousand Algerians in France, many of whom came from families that had ended the Algerian War on the "wrong" side. During the 1980s a succession of cases came to the fore in which, following marital ructions, fathers with Algerian connections had removed their children to Algeria, in defiance of French court rulings granting custody of the children in question to their mothers remaining in France. In an effort to provide a remedy for these cases, in August 1986 the governments of France and Algeria signed a convention,[a] but a view quickly emerged that this had failed to provide an effective remedy. Under Sugier's leadership, the LDIF played a major role in highlighting the issues. A particular atrocity in point was the "Sohane affair", which came up in 2002.[23][b] The LDIF received an appeal from the murdered girl's father and sisters that it should join itself as a civil party to the ensuing legal case against the murder suspect and his accomplice, in order "to support the struggle for the memory of Sohane and to ensure that the same thing should not happen in the future to any other person".[26] The trial evidently took some time to prepare, but when it was held, between 31 March and 7 April 2007, the killer and his accomplice were both found guilty. The killer received a 25-year jail sentence while the accomplice was sentenced to 8 years. The accomplice now made the tactical error of lodging an appeal. The LDIF legal team seized the opportunity and lodged their own appeal. The LDIF was represented at the trial by Linda Weil-Curiel, a lawyer with a reputation in the field of women's rights: Sugier and Weil-Curiel had made their important first visit to the dead girl's sister and father together. Throughout the trial Weil-Cureil had emphasized the sexist aspect of the case, and the advocate general clearly took full cognisance of her submissions. The LDIF was represented not in respect of the criminal aspects of the matter but as a civil litigant: on 18 September 2006 the court responsible for the civil aspect of the case accepted that the LDIF intervention was "admissible and well founded". The appeal in respect of the accomplice was heard at the Seine-Saint-Denis Court of Assizes between 8 June and 14 June 2007; a ten-year jail term was substituted for the earlier, lesser sentence.[26][27] After the verdict, Annie Sugier produced a rapid succession of statements and articles celebrating the fact that for the first time, under pressure from the LIDF's involvement in the case, a court in France had been persuaded to respond to the acts of torture and barbarism of which Sohane Benziane was the victim, to acknowledge the concept of "a sexist crime".[28]

Annie Sugier is a member of the Socialist Party.[29] Her political beliefs and, in particular, her feminist commitment have been on display over many years in columns she regularly contributes to Libération and Le Monde.[30][5] She became a regular contributor to the on-line political journal Riposte Laïque following its launch in 2007. The e-journal was launched at a trenchant defender of "Laïcité", the principal applied in France and certain adjacent countries in which the church has never been nationalised, whereby church:state rivalry is contained (most of the time) by an agreement that the state will never meddle in religious matters and the church will never meddle in secular matters. Critical commentators sometimes suggest that Riposte Laïque was soon taken over by extreme rightwing attitudes, notably with regard to race and tribalism. Sugier quit the Riposte editorial team during the summer of 2010, indicating that she no longer found herself in agreement with its tone and [political] alliances. In one of her last contributions she nevertheless insisted that she intended to attend a forthcoming Riposte "apéro saucisson-pinard" (snacks and drinks [mass-event]) organised by the publication, insisting that she "saw nothing wrong" in joining in with "a giant sausage party in a Paris street".[31] After investigating further Riposte's alliance with "identitarian-nationalist" fellow travellers, who were evidently involved in the event, she evidently changed her mind, however: she stayed away. She formally broke with the Riposte Laïque movement in 2012.[32]

The best known of Annie Sugier's other feminist campaigns involves sport: more specifically the Olympic Games. In 1995 she joined with others to set up the so-called "Atlanta+ Committee", in order to draw attention to and denounce sexual apartheid and discrimination against sportswomen more broadly.[33] In 2012 she published "Femmes voilées aux Jeux olympiques" ("Veiled Women at the Olympic Games") which covered more than twenty years of "Atlanta+ Committee" campaigning.[34] Timed to coincide with the 2012 Summer Olympics, "Londres 2012: Justice pour les femmes" ("London 2012: Justice for the women") was published under her direction and that of Linda Weil-Curiel. That was followed four years later by "Appliquez la Charte olympique" ("Follow the Olympic Charter"), timed to coincide with the 2016 Summer Olympics. The campaigning continues in respect of the 2024 Summer Olympics scheduled for Paris.[35]

Annie Sugier was a jury member for the Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Women's Liberation.[36] She is a member of the "French co-ordination [organisation] for the European Women's Lobby" ("Coordination française pour le lobby européen des femmes"/ CLEF) and of the "Movement for Peace and against Terrorism" ("Mouvement pour la paix et contre le terrorisme" / MPCT).[23] She gave evidence before the 2003 parliamentary enquiry into the contentious issues surrounding the wearing of religious symbols in schools the 2010 enquiry on the wearing if a full veil.[37] Both enquiries were followed by substantive pieces of legislation.[37] She has also testified before senate committees on women's rights, equality of life opportunities between genders and gender equality in sport.[38]

Celebration and recognition

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Notes

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  1. ^ "décret J.O du 19.08.1986"
  2. ^ On October 4, 2002 in Vitry-sur-Seine, 17-year-old Sohane Benziane was burned alive in front of her friends in a cellar by her former boyfriend, a local gang leader.[25]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Olivia Même (compilation); France Chabod (direction) (2016). "Répertoire numérique détaillé .... Zone du contexte .... Notice biographique: Annie Sugier" (PDF). Centre des Archives du Féminisme .... Fonds Annie Sugier. Bibliothèque universitaire d'Angers. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  2. ^ Gilles Bourmaud (Président) (October 2018). "Venue d'Annie Sugier". Communiqué de presse envoyé à l’occasion de la venue de Annie Sugier en Vendée. Observatoire Vendéen de la Laïcité "Georges Clémenceau". Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  3. ^ Stéphanie Hourdeau (15 October 2018). "Vendée: Annie Sugier, présidente de la Ligue du droit international des femmes à La Roche le 27 octobre". Annie Sugier, physicienne et féministe de renom, tiendra une conférence samedi 27 octobre à La Roche-sur-Yon. actu.fr: Le Journal du pays Yonnais. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  4. ^ Sylvie Braibant (28 August 2014). "Trente ans de combats avec la Ligue du droit international des femmes". Terriennes .... Féminismes: L'actualité de la condition des femmes dans le monde. TV5 Monde. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  5. ^ a b Annie Sugier (9 January 2021). "Lettre à Assa Traoré : "La lutte contre le racisme ne doit pas occulter la lutte contre les violences faites aux femmes"". Tribune: Dans une tribune au « Monde », la présidente de la Ligue du droit international des femmes, Annie Sugier, reproche notamment à la militante antiraciste de justifier les comportements des garçons issus de l’immigration par leur victimisation supposée.
  6. ^ "Annie Sugier". Ingénieure, Présidente d'association féministe. Who's Who in France (au Who's Who depuis 2007). Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  7. ^ "Annie Sugier". Scientifique et militante féministe française. Éditions des femmes-Antoinette Fouque (Le Dictionnaire universel des Créatrices), Paris. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  8. ^ Madeleine David. "Présentation d'Annie Sugier". Observatoire Vendéen de la Laïcité "Georges Clémenceau". Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Annie Sugier" (PDF). Carrière et activités. Sénat (Office parlementaire d'évaluation des choix scientifiques et technologiques), Paris. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Société française de radioprotection Annie Sugier". Les Échos, Paris. 3 July 1995. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  11. ^ "Débat public EPR "Tête de série" Caen" (PDF). compte-rendu. Commission nationale du débat public, Paris. 23 November 2005. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  12. ^ "CRP approves new fundamental Recommendations on radiological protection" (PDF). Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  13. ^ The authors .... Annie Sugier. Technical Information Center of the U.S. Department of Energy. 1994. p. 351. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  14. ^ Catherine Mercat-Rommens; Didier Louvat; Céline Duffa; Annie Sugier (2005). "Comparison Between Radiological and Chemical Health Risks Assessments: The Nord-Cotentin Study". Human and Ecological Risk Assessment. 11/3 (3). Taylor Francis online: 627–644. doi:10.1080/10807030590949726. S2CID 72692529. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  15. ^ Miserey, Y.; Pellegrini, P (2007). "Le Groupe radioecologie Nord-Cotentin / The North Cotentin radioecology group .... abstract". Editions La Documentation francaise; Paris (France). International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Wien. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  16. ^ "Premier rapport du groupe d'expertise pluraliste sur les anciennes mines d'uranium du Limousin". Communiques et dossiers de presse ... les ministres en charge de l’environnement, de la santé et de l’industrie, ont annoncé ... Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire, Fontenay-aux-Roses. 5 February 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  17. ^ "Travaux engagés par la CIPR pour la mise en œuvre de ses recommandations (Annie Sugier, IRSN)" (PDF). compte-rendu de la reunion du GT-CIPR IRSN 4 décembre 2007. IRSN), Fontenay-aux-Roses. 29 January 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  18. ^ Annie Sugier (7 December 2006). "ICRP 2006 recommendations GT CIPR" (PDF). overview & process-flow. IRSN), Fontenay-aux-Roses. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  19. ^ "Conseil scientifique - Désignation des membres". Sénat (Office parlementaire d'évaluation des choix scientifiques et technologiques), Paris. 12 November 2003. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  20. ^ "Annie Sigier - Carrière et activités" (PDF). Membres Co-scientifiques. Assemblée nationale. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  21. ^ "... Successive Presidents of the Association". CEPN - Historical. Centre d’étude sur l’Evaluation de la Protection dans le domaine Nucléaire. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  22. ^ Zelensky, Anne (2017-03-12). "Une lignée de rébellion". Les Temps Modernes (647–648): 256–264. ISSN 0040-3075.
  23. ^ a b c d "Qui est la présidente de la LDIF?". Autour de la Ligue. La Ligue du Droit International des Femmes, Paris. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  24. ^ a b "Les Méres d'Alger". Actualité internationale. La Ligue du Droit International des Femmes, Paris. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  25. ^ Marie Brenner (2004). "Daughters of France, Daughters of Allah". From news reports, it may have seemed that the greatest threat to France's secular values was Islamic headscarves in public schools. But thousands of the French girls wearing the scarf are trapped in strict Muslim families, forced into marriage, and brutalized for seeking the freedoms all around them. Archived from the original on 2005-11-23. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  26. ^ a b "Sohane Benziane: Fiche présentant la chronologie des faits, de la procédure judiciaire et des actions de solidarité" (PDF). La Ligue du Droit International des Femmes, Paris. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  27. ^ Annie Sugier (20 February 2008). "La Plaque Errante" (PDF). Les Temps modernes, Paris. pp. 1–11. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  28. ^ Annie Sugier; Kahina Benziane. "Nos chemins se sont croisés" (PDF). Testimonios de Annie Sugier, Presidenta de la Liga del Derecho Internacional de las Mujeres. La Ligue du Droit International des Femmes, Paris. pp. 302–307. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  29. ^ "Sugier Annie –48 AF: Présentation du contenu: .... Historique du producteur" (PDF). Centre d'Archives du féminisme (CAF). Université d'Angers (Bibliothèque et Archives). 2020. pp. 52–53. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  30. ^ "Tous les articles de Annie Sugier publiés dans Libération". Libération, Paris. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  31. ^ Annie Sugier (14 June 2010). "Les mot d'ordre des adversaires de l'apéro : courage fuyons !". Riposte Laïque, "Saint-Jean-d'Acre". Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  32. ^ "La Riposte laïque qui voulait se faire aussi grosse que Pegida". La Horde. Réseau d'étude, de formation et de lutte contre l'extrême droite et la xénophobie. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  33. ^ Ana Pak (June 2012). "À la Rencontre d'Annie Sugier". Échange autour de son livre Femmes voilées aux Jeux Olympiques (ou Les femmes courent-elles moins vite que les Noirs ?). Femmes sous lois musulmanes, Londres. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  34. ^ Annie Sugier (main author); Anne-Marie Lizin (co-author); Linda Weil-Curiel (co-author) (9 April 2012). Femmes voilées aux Jeux olympiques. Jourdan Editions. ISBN 978-2-87466-196-9. Retrieved 30 January 2021. {{cite book}}: |author1= has generic name (help)
  35. ^ James Diamond (4 February 2019). "French feminist group call for hijab ban at Paris 2024". Dunsar Media Company Limited ("Inside the games"), Milton Keynes. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  36. ^ "Le Prix " Simone de Beauvoir pour la liberté des femmes " créé sur l'initiative de Julia Kristeva". Julia Kristeva. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  37. ^ a b Annie Sugier (2012). "L'universalité des droits se décline-t-elle au féminin?". Observatoire de la Société Britannique (13). Open Edition Journals: 241–256. doi:10.4000/osb.1483. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  38. ^ "Egalité des femmes et des hommes dans le sport: comme dans le marathon, ce sont les derniers mètres les plus difficiles" (PDF). Rapport d'information n° 650 (2010-2011) de Mme Michèle ANDRÉ, fait au nom de la délégation aux droits des femmes. Sénat (Rapports d'information), Paris. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  39. ^ Anne Zelensky [in French] (26 October 2009). "Annie Sugier nommée officier de la Légion d'honneur par Nicolas Sarkozy". "Riposte laïque", "Saint-Jean-d'Acre". Retrieved 31 January 2021.
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