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Geneva agrees to name more streets after women

The Local
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Geneva agrees to name more streets after women
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It was an appropriate theme for International Women’s Day as Geneva’s parliament on Wednesday voted in favour of naming more streets in the canton after women.

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The bill, lodged by Green party MP Delphine Klopfenstein, proposed an increased 'feminisation’ of street names, reported La Tribune de Geneve on Thursday. 
 
According to the text of the bill, only 31 out of 700 streets that have the name of a famous person are named after women, equating to just one percent of the total 3,263 streets in the canton.
 
So who would it choose to honour? 
 
To help the canton out, The Local has put together a few suggestions: 
 
Isabelle Eberhardt
 
Born in Geneva in 1877, Isabelle was a pioneering explorer with a fascination for North Africa, which she wrote about in an series of acclaimed pieces published after her early death. A radical thinker who wrote about homosexuality and anti-colonialism, she dressed as a man during her time living in Algeria to give her greater freedom. 
 
Irène Jacobs
 
A Swiss-French actress who grew up in Geneva and studied at the Geneva Conservatory of Music, she has received acclaim for films including The Double Life of Veronique, for which she was named Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival, and her BAFTA-nominated role in Three Colours: Red. She most recently starred in US drama The Affair.
 
Flore Revalles
 
Born in Rolles in 1889, singer and dancer Flora started out at Geneva’s opera house before becoming an international star, working in Hollywood and on Broadway.
 
Kate Burton
 
The daughter of Richard and Sybil Burton, Geneva-born Kate is an Emmy and Tony Award-nominated actress who has made a career on US television and stage, appearing in series The West Wing, Law & Order, Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal.
 
Mary Shelley
 
Though not Swiss, the British author spent a summer staying near Geneva in 1816 during which time she was inspired to write her famous horror story Frankenstein, part of which is set in the city and surrounding areas, including the Salève mountain.  
 
Mary Katharine Gaillard
 
The American physicist worked at CERN in the late 70s and was the first person to address the issue of gender imbalance at Geneva’s  famous physics lab. Her published report on the matter informed a working group set up to study the situation of women at CERN and the later establishment of an equal opportunities programme there.

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