Who is she?

Beneath the cliffs of Lyme Regis, a young woman forever changed our vision of the past.

Born in 1799 in Lyme Regis, an extraordinary woman, pioneer of paleontology.

Mary Anning, daughter of a carpenter from the English seaside, grew up among unstable cliffs. Very young, she accompanied her father in search of fossils, which she sold to help her family survive.

What started as a necessity would become her life's story: scientific exploration.

At 12 years old, with her brother Joseph, she discovered the first complete large fossil of a prehistoric marine reptile.

This discovery would make history. At the dawn of emerging paleontology, she demonstrated the existence of unknown creatures: dinosaurs and marine reptiles now well-known, but then controversial.

Thanks to her keen eye and deep knowledge of rock strata, her collections tell the story of Earth's history and extinct species.

The Matilda Effect

For centuries, many women have contributed to scientific advancement. Yet, their contributions are too often overshadowed by men. This phenomenon is called the Matilda Effect.

It denounces the historical and modern tendency to attribute the role of discoverer to men. When a female scientist makes a discovery, her work is often attributed to men, prizes are often given to male colleagues, or discoveries bear men's names.

Mary Anning, an exceptional paleontologist, whose work revolutionized our understanding of the world, was no exception. Her male contemporaries often claimed credit for her discoveries. Her fossils were exhibited in museums without her name being mentioned, their names simply omitted from discoveries that were nevertheless presented under men's names rather than hers.

Mary Anning alone embodies the injustice of the Matilda Effect.

This discovery today is a prerequisite for any work that pays tribute to all those who have been erased from the collective memory of their time until today.

History cannot remain silent about this injustice: it is time to give them back the place they deserved and to discover who they really were.