The Hypatia project: engraving the names of 72 women scientists on the Eiffel Tower

Your background lies at the crossroads of science and culture. How did you manage to bring the two together?

Benjamin Rigaud: I studied history and geology at Sorbonne University before pursuing a Master's degree in Innovation and Design at Sciences Po. This experience made me want to bring science into the public arena, to make it visible in a different way. In 2019, I founded Universe-City, an agency which brings together researchers, institutions and companies around cultural and scientific projects. For several years now, I have designed tributes to leading scientific figures: Mendeleev, Kepler, Copernicus, Archimedes... And now, women scientists with the Hypatia project.

How did the idea of inscribing the names of women scientists on the Eiffel Tower come about?

B. R.: It all started in 2021, when I was working as a tour guide at the Eiffel Tower. One day, I was presenting the golden border on the first floor, where the names of 72 scientists chosen by Gustave Eiffel are inscribed, and a tourist asked me where Marie Curie's name was. When I checked, I discovered that there were no women listed on the tower at all.

This really struck me. I then researched whether there were any notable women scientists during Eiffel's time. It was whilst reading a publication by the Femmes & Sciences association, entitled 40 remarquables femmes scientifiques du XVIIIᵉ siècle à nos jours (40 remarkable women scientists from the 18^th century to the present day), that I had a lightbulb moment. I looked at the plans of the monument and noticed that there were 40 empty spaces on the second floor. That's when I had the idea to inscribe the names of forty women scientists in that very space.

You were a student at Sorbonne University at the time. How did the university get involved in this project?

B. R.: I was involved in the Défis Sorbonne association, which was created in 2017 to promote Sorbonne University through innovative and impactful projects. I suggested that the association, which I have been chairing since 2021, take the project on. 

We set up a scientific committee, the Hypatia committee, founded with Sandrine Aragon, a lecturer at Sorbonne University and an expert in women's access to culture. The committee brought together researchers from the university's three faculties: Science & Engineering, Arts & Humanities and Health. We received a grant from the Student Initiative Solidarity and Development Fund (FSDIE), built a prototype for the letters at the university's FabLab, and benefited from the support of Pépite Sorbonne University. Several student associations, such as Connectome in Science and TV Jussieu, also joined the project.

Why did you choose the name Hypatia?

B. R.: Because she was one of the first women scientists in history. A Greek philosopher and astronomer, Hypatia taught in Alexandria, a city famous for its lighthouse, of which the Eiffel Tower is, in a way, the modern heir. A martyr of knowledge, Hypatia embodies the transmission of knowledge, intellectual courage and the fight against the erasure of learned women.

But Hypatia remains a symbolic figure: she will not appear among the names proposed. The criteria used by the Eiffel Tower is the same as that used by Gustave Eiffel himself; French women scientists or women who contributed to French science and who lived after 1789.

How was the project launched publicly?

B. R.: In October 2022, Défis Sorbonne organised a conference at the Paris Observatory entitled Les Éclipsées – femmes scientifiques ou la face cachée de l’histoire (Eclipsed Women – Women Scientists or the Hidden Side of History), during a partial solar eclipse. It was a tribute to the female astronomers who have been ‘eclipsed’ from the history of science.

The event was attended by the Femmes & Sciences association, of which I am a member, the Paris City Council, and the president of Sorbonne University, Nathalie Drach-Temam, who gave a speech. She immediately supported the project, agreed to become its official patron and recommended us to the Paris City Council. Thanks to her, Sorbonne University played a leading role in the institutional recognition of the Hypatia project. The university not only provided logistical and academic support, but also legitimised the initiative by placing it in line with its ongoing efforts to promote gender equality in science.

From there, the project moved beyond the student sphere to become an initiative recognised by institutions.

How did it go from 40 to 72 women scientists?

B. R.: The initial vision was to inscribe 40 names on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. But when the Paris City Council, impressed by the project, took it on, the Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, wanted to go further. She created a commission of experts to study the feasibility of the project.

This commission, which was co-chaired by Isabelle Vauglin, vice-president of the Femmes et Sciences association, and Jean François Martins, president of the Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), brought together architects for historical monuments, historians, representatives of the City of Paris, a member of the Association des Descendants de Gustave Eiffel, as well as several scientists from the CNRS, including Jacqueline Bloch, Françoise Combes and Valérie Masson-Delmotte.

Under the guidance of chief architect Pierre-Antoine Gatier, the commission made a proposal to inscribe 72 names of women scientists – the same number as men – and place them on the same floor, above the original border. It is a decision that is both aesthetic and symbolic: women will literally be on the same level as their peers.

Who has chosen the names of these 72 women?

B. R.: In 2022, Sandrine Aragon and I submitted an initial list of 40 names to the Paris City Council. Since then, the Femmes & Sciences association has been appointed with consulting major research organisations such as the CNRS, Inserm, INRIA and, of course, Sorbonne University.

Each institution will propose several names. The final list will then be validated by the Académie des Sciences and the Académie des Technologies before being submitted to the Mayor of Paris. Only French women scientists or those who worked in connection with France, born after 1789 and deceased, can be considered.

The aim is to ensure that all scientific disciplines are represented, in keeping with Eiffel's selection, which honoured hard science and industrial applications. Personally, I would very much like to see Rose Dieng, a Senegalese computer scientist, Toshiko Yuasa, a Japanese physicist, and Radhia Rezig Cousot, a Tunisian engineer, among the names selected. They embody the international contribution to French science.

What is the current status of the project?

B. R.: On 5 September 2025, the expert commission submitted a report to the Mayor of Paris confirming the feasibility of the project. The next step is to complete the administrative procedures, particularly with the Department for regional cultural affairs department, the DRAC Île-de-France, as the Eiffel Tower is a historic monument.

But the political support is there: Anne Hidalgo wants the project to be completed before 2027. The inscription will be accompanied by a cultural outreach programme aimed at the general public and schoolchildren. With Défis Sorbonne, Femmes & Sciences, and my agency Universe-City, we want to extend this tribute through exhibitions, educational activities and disseminating the biographies of these women scientists. The idea is not to be a mere symbolic gesture, but to pass on knowledge, explain and provide role models.

Beyond recognition, how do you hope this project will change the way women in science are seen?

B. R.: One of the Hypatia project’s goals is precisely to change the way women are seen by tackling the ‘Matilda effect’ – the way in which women's discoveries have often been attributed to men. This project is a concrete way of making women in science visible, inscribing their names on France's most iconic monument to restore their place in history.

It is also a way of inspiring younger generations, of showing that science is built by women as well as men. The inscription on the Eiffel Tower is not an end in itself - it is the beginning of a process of recognition and transmission.