June 16, 1967 – Death of Eugénie Cotton, French scientist and student of Marie Curie

Eugénie Elise Céline Fytis, known as Eugénie Cotton, was born in Soubise on October 13, 1881. She began her studies in 1901 at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Jeunes Filles de Sèvres (ENSJF), where she was a student of Marie Curie and where she met Pierre Curie and Paul Langevin. These contacts allowed her to compile a collection of texts from the Curie family (Les Curie et la radioactivité) that came to light in 1963.

In 1904 she left the Sèvres school to take up a teaching position at the University of Poitiers. Later she returned to the ENSJF to continue developing her teaching work.

In 1925, already counting on her doctorate in physical sciences, she was a research teacher at the Center national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS).

In 1936, she became the director of the ENSFJ and was involved in reforming women's studies. However, in 1941 during World War II, the Vichy government forced Eugénie out of her position.

She participated for more than twenty years in the founding of the Union of French women and became the first president of the International Democratic Federation of Women. She was also vice president of the World Peace Council, where she developed an important activity until her death, which occurred suddenly on June 16, 1967.

The Eugénie Cotton archives are kept at the Marguerite Durand Library in the 13th arrondissement of Paris.

As a curiosity, the crater of Venus Crotton was named in her honor.