10 reviewed historical people
Women who kept the light: distinct people, exact historical roles, service places, dates, and sources.
This pilot does not infer gender from names and does not reduce service to “helping a husband”. Terms such as gardienne hors-classe remain visible because employment status, pay, security, and recognition were part of the history.
10 keepers
Each page separates the person, the lighthouse station, family or succession links, and the evidence supporting each public statement. Unnamed relatives are not turned into identities.
chargée de l’allumage par abonnement
Appointed in 1886 to light the Rosédo lighthouse on Île-de-Bréhat after the death of her husband, three years before the 1889 regulation formally recognized comparable appointments.
Rosédo lighthouse, Île-de-Bréhat
gardienne hors-classe
Succeeded her deceased husband at Pontusval in December 1889 and served there as a gardienne hors-classe until 1910.
Pontusval lighthouse
gardienne
Replaced her mother Marie-Perrine Messager at Pontusval in 1910 and later followed her lighthouse-keeper husband to Kermorvan.
Pontusval lighthouse · Kermorvan lighthouse
gardienne hors-classe
Appointed gardienne hors-classe at Les Moutons in 1895 as part of a two-person lighthouse household with Henri-Noël Colin.
Les Moutons lighthouse, Glénan
remplaçante de la gardienne
Replaced her mother Marie-Catherine Goyat at Les Moutons when illness forced the older keeper to leave the island.
Les Moutons lighthouse, Glénan
gardienne
Succeeded her sister Joséphine at Les Moutons in 1900, continuing a family sequence of women performing lighthouse service.
Les Moutons lighthouse, Glénan
gardienne assurant la veille du feu
Maintained Kerdonis lighthouse’s five red flashes every 25 seconds with her children after her husband died before taking the watch on 18 April 1911.
Kerdonis lighthouse, Belle-Île-en-Mer
gardienne du phare
Served at Kerbel lighthouse from 1925 until 1972 and described the meticulous work of cleaning its Fresnel apparatus in a 1983 television interview.
Kerbel lighthouse, Riantec
électromécanicienne de phare
Appointed lighthouse electromechanician in 1984 and assigned to an offshore lighthouse at Sept-Îles in January 2001.
French lighthouse service · Sept-Îles lighthouse
électromécanicienne de phare
Named by the source with Françoise André as one of the first two women appointed as lighthouse electromechanicians in France.
French lighthouse service
| Keeper | Role | Station | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marie-Perrine Durand | chargée de l’allumage par abonnement | Rosédo lighthouse, Île-de-Bréhat | |
| Marie-Perrine Messager | gardienne hors-classe | Pontusval lighthouse | |
| Joséphine Perrot | gardienne | Pontusval lighthouse · Kermorvan lighthouse | |
| Marie-Catherine Goyat | gardienne hors-classe | Les Moutons lighthouse, Glénan | |
| Joséphine Colin | remplaçante de la gardienne | Les Moutons lighthouse, Glénan | |
| Jeanne-Marie Larsonneur | gardienne | Les Moutons lighthouse, Glénan | |
| Eugénie Matelot | gardienne assurant la veille du feu | Kerdonis lighthouse, Belle-Île-en-Mer | |
| Honorine Le Guen | gardienne du phare | Kerbel lighthouse, Riantec | |
| Françoise André | électromécanicienne de phare | French lighthouse service · Sept-Îles lighthouse | |
| Sylvie Chalumeau-Brousse | électromécanicienne de phare | French lighthouse service |