Yvette Roudy, France's First Women's Rights Minister, Dies at 97

Yvette Roudy, France's first Minister for Women's Rights, died August 18, 2026, at 97. President Mitterrand appointed her in 1981 after 23 years of conservative Gaullist and Giscardian rule. She served until 1986 and later helped inspire France's 2000 parity law, which constitutionally required equal numbers of male and female candidates in most elections.