Skip to main content

Primary sourceDocument

Signature of Olympe de Gouges

Olympe de Gouges

Olympe de Gouges's handwritten autograph signature, relevant to debates over whether she dictated her works due to limited literacy.

Her own signature, used as evidence in discussions about her literacy and authorship of her works.

Ask Olympe de Gouges about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Handwritten cursive signature in dark ink on a light background, reading 'Olympe de Gouges' in flowing script with long looping strokes.
Signature of Olympe de Gouges, French writer and feminist.

About this source

What it is

This image shows the handwritten cursive signature of Olympe de Gouges, in flowing looping script reading 'Olympe de Gouges.'

Why it matters

Gouges was reputed to have dictated many of her writings to a secretary, and questions about her formal education and literacy have been part of how historians discuss her as a woman writer in a world where women's access to education was limited. A simple signature like this becomes a small piece of evidence in that larger debate.

Look closer

  • What can handwriting alone tell us, and what can it not tell us, about a person's education?
  • Why might questions about whether Gouges wrote her own works matter to how she is remembered?
  • What assumptions about women writers might lie behind doubts about her literacy?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Olympe de Gouges on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Olympe de Gouges sources

Meet the AI Olympe de Gouges →
Printed page of the 1791 Declaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne, with the title in large capitals, a subtitle addressed to the National Assembly, and the opening Preambule paragraphs in French text.Document

Primary source

Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen

Olympe de Gouges · 1791

Painted allegory of the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. A title plaque reads 'Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen' above two tablets of text. A seated woman with chains and a standing winged figure with a wand flank the plaque, under a radiant eye in a triangle.Document

Primary source

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

National Constituent Assembly · 1789

Printed broadside titled 'Les Trois Urnes, ou le Salut de la Patrie, par un Voyageur Aérien' in large capitals on an orange-tinted page, with dense multi-column French text below the title.Document

Primary source

Les Trois Urnes, ou le Salut de la Patrie, par un voyageur aérien

Olympe de Gouges · 1793

Pastel-style portrait of a woman with powdered grey hair piled high, wearing a white shawl, against a dark brown and grey background. She has a slight smile and looks toward the viewer.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of Olympe de Gouges

Alexander Kucharsky

Title page scan of the 1793 French text 'Testament politique d'Olympe de Gouges', printed in serif type with a decorative rule above and below the title. The opening paragraph begins with 'O divine providence!' and is partly faded and smudged.Document

Primary source

Testament politique d'Olympe de Gouges

Olympe de Gouges · June 1793

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Olympe de Gouges now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions