1980

Marguerite Yourcenar became the first woman elected to the Académie Française on March 7th, 1980.  A recognized trailblazer, whose election to the Academie Française received much publicity, was, in fact not,  the first woman to become a member of the Institute. That honor was bestowed on Suzanne Bastid who was elected in 1971 to the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques, followed by Jacqueline de Romilly who  joined the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1975 and Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat who was elected to the Académie des Sciences in 1978.