Overview

• At a back-to-school press conference on August 27, Education Minister Élisabeth Borne proposed opening a public discussion on altering the inscription “Aux grands Hommes, la patrie reconnaissante.”
• Borne framed the idea as part of a fight against determinisms and cited female figures already honored at the Panthéon, including Marie Curie, Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz, Germaine Tillion, Simone Veil and Joséphine Baker.
• She coupled the symbolic proposal with a “Filles et Maths” plan targeting 5,000 additional girls choosing the math specialty in 2026 and 60 middle-school classes in maths and sciences with at least 50% girls.
• No decision or timetable for changing the inscription has been announced, and the suggestion drew immediate criticism from commentators and right-wing politicians such as Eugénie Bastié, Gilbert Collard, Florian Philippot and Laurent Jacobelli.
• Coverage situates the discussion in the monument’s history, noting the motto’s revolutionary-era origins that became dominant by 1885 and the gradual inclusion of women, from Marie Curie in 1995 to Joséphine Baker in 2021.