Madeleine Chaumont facts for kids

Madeleine Chaumont (born April 8, 1896 – died July 27, 1973) was a French mathematics teacher. She was special because she was one of the first 41 women allowed into the famous École normale supérieure. She was also the second woman to pass a very difficult math exam for men called the agrégation. Throughout her life, health problems sometimes stopped her from teaching.

About Madeleine Chaumont's Life

Madeleine Chaumont was the daughter of Alfred Chaumont, who ran a distillery. Her mother, Hélène Chaumont, was a pianist. When Madeleine was a child, she had many ear infections. Because of this, she had hearing problems for her whole life.

Her Education and Early Success

Madeleine went to the Collège Sévigné. She earned her first high school diplomas in math and philosophy in 1912 and 1913. After a short time at another school, she got a degree in mathematics.

Her old teacher, Alexandre Bernheim, encouraged her. She also saw other women like Marguerite Rouvière and Georgette Parize succeed. So, in 1919, Madeleine decided to apply to the École Normale Supérieure. She was accepted, but at first, she was only a scholarship student.

It wasn't until 1927 that a special rule made her an official former student. This meant she was one of only 41 women to attend the school before women were no longer allowed to take the entrance exam in 1939.

Madeleine stayed at the school for just one year. She was preparing for a very important math teaching exam for men in 1920. She passed this exam, called the agrégation, and came in first place! She was the first woman to do so since 1885. Madeleine believed that young women should be required to take the same tough exams as men. She wanted to get rid of the separate women's exam. This finally happened in 1976, after she passed away.

Madeleine Chaumont's Teaching Career

In September 1920, Madeleine started teaching at a girls' high school in Reims. She insisted on being treated the same as her male co-workers. Everyone praised her teaching skills. However, she was often away from school because of her health.

Teaching at Different Schools

In 1927, she moved to the Lycée de Jeunes Filles de Versailles. There, she helped students get ready for the entrance exam to the École Normale Supérieure for girls. Later, in 1933, she moved to the Lycée Fénelon. Many of her students successfully got into top schools.

Challenges During World War II

Madeleine moved to Limoges in 1939–40. In October 1941, she was stopped from teaching due to unfair rules at the time. She was replaced by a former colleague. However, she secretly continued to teach her students in private lessons.

Return to Teaching and Retirement

She was able to teach again at Fénelon in October 1944. She often received praise from school inspectors and her headmistress. Again, many of her students did very well.

However, after 1955, things became harder. The new headmistress had doubts, and there was competition from a new math class at another school. The Fénelon class eventually closed in 1956.

Because of her health, Madeleine was assigned to teach for a national distance learning center. She prepared students for teaching exams. But she missed being in a classroom with her students. In 1958, she got a job teaching basic math at the Lycée Claude-Monet. However, the number of students dropped again. After a lot of pressure, she retired in October of that year.

Even after retiring, she kept teaching a course at the Institut Catholique de Paris until 1963. In 1971, she even tutored a student for the École Polytechnique exam. Overall, Madeleine Chaumont played a very important role in helping women get a good science education.

Madeleine was a cultured woman. She was close to her cousin Geneviève Cahn and was a pianist, like her mother. She moved into a retirement home in Châtenay-Malabry. She passed away on July 27, 1973, at the age of 77, after breaking her leg. Her body was cremated, and her ashes were placed in her sister's tomb in the Montparnasse cemetery.