Sonia de Borodaewsky

Sonia de Borodaewsky was the first woman to become a PROFESSIONAL FISHERMAN in France. Her relentless campaign against the Colbert Ordinance, which since the 18th century had restricted access to the maritime sector to those registered as seafarers, culminated in January 1963 with the publication of a decree opening up all maritime professions to women, ensuring equal rights between the sexes.
In this year marking the CENTENARY of her birth, Sonia de Borodaewsky has not been forgotten. On the contrary, a new generation is taking an interest in this iconoclastic woman who was also a RESISTANCE FIGHTER during the Second World War, a mother of five children, an author and a TALENTED POET. From Saigon (Indochina), where she was born in August 1926, until her death in Meschers-sur-Gironde (Charente-Maritime) in February 1999, her life was marked by her courage and her struggle for freedom and equality, but also by her artistic temperament and her profound spirituality.