Origins and influence of the Grande Loge Féminine de France

The distant origins of women's Freemasonry

It was already in France that the first form of Freemasonry open to women appeared in the eighteenth century, in the form of Adoption Freemasonry, also known as Ladies' Freemasonry. But, as we wrote in another article devoted to women in Freemasonry, this was a half measure, a cheap form of Freemasonry, a sort of worldly amusement allowing ladies of good society to ‘play at being Freemasons’, while the real Masonic rituals were not used and all the posts of Officer of the Lodge of Adoption were doubled by an Officer of the ‘real’ Lodge on which it depended. 

The Masonic quality of Adoption Masonry was not so different from the many American para-Masonic orders that sprang up in the nineteenth century, some of which were mixed and open to the wives and daughters of Freemasons. In all cases, it was not true Freemasonry, but on the contrary a clever way of turning women away from it.
We will not present here the isolated cases represented by the initiations of Elisabeth Aldworth in Ireland in 1712 and Claudine-Thérèse Provensal, the sister of Jean-Baptiste Willermoz, who reached the degree of Réau-Croix, the highest grade in Martinezist Freemasonry; we have already mentioned these in the article referred to above.

Mixed Free masonry

The decisive step for women in Freemasonry was taken, again in France, at the end of the 19th century. In 1882, Maria Deraismes (1828-1894), an ardent feminist activist, was initiated into a lodge of the Grande Loge Symbolique Écossaise, a highly progressive dissidence of the French Supreme Council of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. In 1893, with the help of Georges Martin (1844-1916), former Grand Master of the Scottish Symbolic Grand Lodge and a fervent feminist, she initiated sixteen women, who formed the first mixed Lodge in the world (Georges Martin being the only male member), the embryo of what was to become the International Mixed Masonic Order ‘Le Droit Humain’.

The question of admitting women to Freemasonry was becoming a burning one, and the French Masonic Obediences had to respond in one way or another. The Scottish Symbolic Grand Lodge, the first to be affected since Maria Deraismes was initiated in one of its Lodges, initially took a rather conservative step backwards, which was rather surprising for a very progressive Obedience that had many supporters of the feminist cause in its ranks. The Grand Orient de France, many of whose members were also committed to the feminist cause, took no position.

It was within the Grande Loge de France, founded in 1894, that the seeds of a new response to the question of women in Freemasonry were to emerge.

Foundation of the Grande Loge de France

Before 1880, there were two main Masonic Obediences in France: the Grand Orient de France (formerly known as the Grande Loge de France, founded in 1728 and renamed in 1772) and the Supreme Council of France for the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (founded in 1804), which governed the entire Rite from the 1st to the 33rd degree.

Since 1848, many symbolic Lodges of the Supreme Council, driven by republican and democratic ideals—even anarcho-syndicalist in some cases—became increasingly dissatisfied with the strictly pyramidal structure of the Order. They aspired to federate the Lodges within a Grand Lodge, independent from the higher degrees and organized democratically. In 1882, twelve Lodges split from the Supreme Council to form the Grande Loge Symbolique Écossaise. It was within this obedience that Maria Deraismes was initiated in 1882.

From 1887, negotiations were initiated between the Grande Loge Symbolique Écossaise and the Supreme Council, with a view to merging the symbolic Lodges of both Obediences into a new body, independent of the Supreme Council. To prepare for this union, the Lodges of the Supreme Council formed themselves into the Grande Loge de France in 1894. However, internal disagreements derailed the merger, and only part of the Lodges of the Grande Loge Symbolique Écossaise joined the Grande Loge de France.

Revival of Adoption Masonry within the Grande Loge de France

Founded one year after Le Droit Humain, the Grande Loge de France was likely more sensitive to this new context than the Grand Orient de France, which rested comfortably on its historical longevity. Nevertheless, it remained more conservative than the Grande Loge Symbolique Écossaise, which had embraced gender inclusivity at the turn of the 20th century. Instead, the Grande Loge de France turned to the tradition of Adoption Masonry, reviving its rituals. However, this revival was approached differently from the 18th-century version: while still attached to male Lodges, the Adoption Lodges worked autonomously with fully recognized female Officers. The first Adoption Lodge, Le Libre Examen, was founded on May 29, 1901. Between 1901 and 1936, ten more Lodges were established, though some were short-lived—by 1936, only eight remained.

At the 1935 Convent, the Grande Loge de France decided to grant the Adoption Lodges the greatest possible autonomy and encouraged them to constitute an independent women’s Masonic Obedience. This decision was less a gesture for women’s rights than a political move: the Grande Loge de France hoped to gain recognition from the United Grand Lodge of England, which in 1929 had established principles of recognition explicitly excluding women from Freemasonry. Therefore, maintaining Adoption Lodges became increasingly problematic.

As expected, the Sisters of these Lodges—now calling themselves Feminine Lodges rather than Adoption Lodges—reacted poorly to this attempt at exclusion. Nevertheless, they undertook the task proposed to them. On July 8, 1936, the first Congress of Feminine Lodges was held, leading to the formation of an executive body: a Secretariat composed of five Sisters. However, the outbreak of World War II in 1939 interrupted efforts to establish a new Obedience.

From the Union Maçonnique Féminine de France to the Grande Loge Féminine de France

After the Liberation of 1945, all French Masonic Obediences began restructuring. On behalf of the 1936 Secretariat, Sisters Anne-Marie Gentily (1882-1972), Suzanne Galland (1882-1961), and Germaine Rheal (pseudonym of Suzanne Barillet) sought reintegration of the Feminine Lodges into the Grande Loge de France to continue the work of forming a women’s Obedience. The Grande Loge de France requested they wait until it had restructured but eventually abolished all regulations concerning Feminine Lodges on September 17, 1945. As a result, these Lodges could only rely on themselves if they wanted to rebuild after the war.

Anne-Marie Gentily, Suzanne Galland, and Germaine Rheal then formed a Reconstruction Committee to reunite Sisters dispersed by the war and to assess their conduct during the Occupation. Five of the eight Lodges were re-established, and 91 Sisters were reinstated. On January 30, 1946, the first Convent of the Union Maçonnique Féminine de France was held, electing Anne-Marie Gentily as its first Grand Mistress. The new Obedience remained faithful to the Rite of Adoption.

At the 1952 Convent, the name Union Maçonnique Féminine de France—originally imposed by the Grande Loge de France—was replaced by Grande Loge Féminine de France. The Sisters intended to assert that their organization was not just a union but a true Masonic Obedience, a Grand Lodge.

The Rite of Adoption and the Rite Écossais Ancien Accepté

Starting in 1955, the continuation of the Rite of Adoption within the Grande Loge Féminine de France came into question. Should they maintain this historical particularity or adopt a more universal Rite, such as the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite? A commission was appointed in 1957 to study the issue, and in 1959, the question was submitted to the Convent. The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite prevailed. About ten Sisters who wished to remain faithful to the Rite of Adoption left to form the Lodge Cosmos in Meudon.

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite flourished within the Grande Loge Féminine de France, and in 1972, the Supreme Council for Women of France, 33rd Degree, was constituted. That same year, the Grande Loge Féminine received a charter from the Grand Orient de France to practice the French Rite. In 1974, a Lodge working in the Rectified Scottish Rite was established in Lyon with help from the Grande Loge Traditionnelle et Symbolique Opéra. However, the Grande Loge Féminine de France only received the official charter for this Rite from the Grand Orient de France in 1980. Finally, in 1977, the Cosmos Lodge sought reintegration into the Grande Loge Féminine de France, continuing the Rite of Adoption, which it remains the sole Lodge practicing today.

Development of Feminine Freemasonry

Initially composed of five Lodges and fewer than a hundred Sisters, the Grande Loge Féminine de France quickly expanded, both in France and internationally. In the 1960s, 22 Lodges were founded, including one in Geneva, Switzerland. In the following decade, 76 Lodges were established in France, Switzerland, and Belgium.

Feminine Freemasonry soon spread internationally, originating from the Grande Loge Féminine de France. Swiss Feminine Lodges, the first to be established outside France, formed the Grande Loge Féminine de Suisse in 1976, followed by Belgium’s Grande Loge Féminine de Belgique in 1981. More followed: Grande Loge Féminine d’Italie (1991), Grande Loge Féminine du Portugal (1997), Grande Loge Symbolique Féminine du Venezuela and Grande Loge Féminine d’Espagne (2005), Grande Loge du Cameroun (2017), and Grande Loge Féminine de Bulgarie (2018). In 2015, the Grande Loge Traditionnelle Féminine "Pontus Euxinus" of Romania was founded with the support of the Grande Loge Féminine de Suisse. And this expansion is likely not over.

Other feminine Masonic Obediences also contribute to the global presence of women in Freemasonry, such as the Grande Loge Féminine de Memphis-Misraïm, Grande Loge Féminine d’Allemagne, and Grande Loge Féminine de Turquie.

As the newest branch of Freemasonry, feminine Freemasonry complements male and mixed Masonry, offering a genuine choice for women and men wishing to become Freemasons. Feminine Freemasonry has significantly increased the presence of women within Freemasonry alongside mixed Lodges. Today, it is estimated that about 3% of Freemasons worldwide are women.