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Gabrielle Suchon (December 24, 1632, Semur-en-Auxois – March 5, 1703, Dijon) was a French moral philosopher and Dominican feminist who debated social, political and religious issues in the early modern era. Her most prominent works are Traité de la morale et de la politique (On Morality and Politics) and Du Célibat volontaire (On Voluntary Single Life). Suchon is considered to be the most prominent feminist writer during the reign of Louis XIV (1600-1715) as well as the first philosopher to write a significant body of work dedicated solely to the topic of women.

Suchon's most influential assertion was that a woman could live a fulfilling life while unmarried. Later on in her career, Suchon suggestedfemale celibacy for non-religious reasons. Despite her Dominican background, Suchon's idea of female autonomy directly challenged the authority of husbands and church fathers.

Suchon advocated for the natural rights of liberty, learning and authority for women. She urged women to resist societal expectations and to acquire education as a way to combat their subjugation to men. Suchon's writing is unique because she specifically addresses women, as opposed to most moral philosophy of the time whose primary audience was men. Suchon utilizes classical and religious texts to craft her argument for female empowerment, which remains a point of debate for modern historians. In her Traité de la morale et de la politique, Suchon emphasizes her commitment to God and asserts that religion and scripture is being used as a tool to reinforce the subjugation of women and male supremacy.

Early life
Gabrielle Suchon was born in Semur-en-Auxios (Burgundy), France on December 24, 1932 to Claude Mongin and Claude Suchon. Claude Mongin, Gabrielle's mother, was born gentry with various jurists in her family. Gabrielle's father Claude Suchon, came from a line of minor nobles who had historically been pubic officials. Claude Suchon served as the King's prosecutor until his death in 1945.

Adult life
Suchon's adult life is not well documented. Her whereabouts during many of her adult years remain a mystery. Some sources say that Suchon resided in a Dominican convent in Semur after her father's death in 1645 until 1666. In 1666 she is said to have denounced her vows as a nun and fled to Rome to live a secular life with her mother.

However, more recent historical research has disputed when and why Suchon would have been sent to the convent in Semur.

Some speculate that Suchon may have been sent to the convent shortly after her father's death for financial reasons. Others say that she many have been older and because her marriage prospects were poor she was put on the religious path.

Contestation of vows
Church documents have revealed that on October 15, 1666, Suchon was legally transferred to the Jacobin monastery at Langres. Some speculate that Suchon may have used the guise of this transfer to escape the religious life and may have ended up in Rome.

There is sufficient evidence to suggest that Suchon spent around twenty years in Dijon teaching and writing before she released her Treatise on Morality and Politics in 1693.

Death
Gabrielle Suchon died on March 5, 1703 in Dijon, France after spending her last years teaching and writing.

Education
Suchon spent her early years in a convent where she most likely received the standard religious education of a nun. Suchon's Dominican education would have consisted of new testament content. Nuns were forbidden from reading direct biblical content without the interpretation of a male bishop, which implies that Suchon studied scripture outside of her limited education in the convent. Suchon references the old testament in her Traité de la morale et de la politique, which suggests that she studied the old testament on her own.

Suchon was largely self-educated because women were barred from studying at public institutions during her lifetime. Based on her writings, she was well-versed in the holy scriptures and the work of classic philosophers and writers.

Suchon studied the works of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Seneca, Plutarch and other classical philosophers and utilized their praise of female qualities or figures to craft her argument for women's equality.

Traité de la morale et de la politique (Treatise on Morality and Politics)
Suchon originally published Traité de la morale et de la politique under the pseudonym 'G. S. Aristophile'.

Suchon's treatise is broken up into three sections: liberty, learning and authority. In the section on liberty, Suchon depicts the extensive and complicated nature of women's oppression. Suchon argues that by barring women from intellectual debate, society as a whole is being deprived of great thinkers.

Du Célibat volontaire (On the Celibate Life Freely Chosen)
In On the Celibate Life Freely Chosen, Suchon presents possible solutions for the oppression of women. She envisions female freedom as autonomy to exist actively, or to live and educated and informed life. Suchon asserts that a path of intellectualism is preferable to both marriage and religious vows, the two widely accepted paths for women at the time.

In On the Celibate Life Freely Chosen, Suchon details the twelve benefits of female celibacy. A notable benefit of forgoing marriage is the ability to care for the poor instead of producing children.

Suchon views celibacy not as a religious virtue, but as a practical path to gaining individual autonomy and freedom for women. Suchon does not dismiss the fact that some women may have the desire and inclination to take religious vows and encourages those that do to follow the religious path. However, Suchon strongly condemns parents that force the religious life upon their young, naive daughters for selfish reasons.

Suchon rejects the widely accepted ida that women needed to be cloistered to draw away the temptations of the flesh. In fact, she attests that nuns are equally as susceptible to sins of the flesh as non-secular women.

Querelle Des Femme
The querelle des femme translates to 'the woman question', an intellectual movement in France in the early modern period that discussed moral and social aspects of womanhood for the first time.

Suchon's Treatise suggests that she did not consider herself a part of the querelle des femme. Suchon claims that none of her contemporaries had made contributions to pro-woman philosophy on the same scale as her. She does not reference the work of other pro-woman writers who belonged to the querelle des femme. Her lack of acknowledgement to other female philosophers suggests that she may not have read the work of her peers, which is puzzling because of the breadth of her education.

Legacy
Suchon's work did not receive much attention during her lifetime because of her radical perspective. Historians argue that Suchon's work did not gain popularity because male intellectuals discredited 'feminized' writing throughout the early modern era. In the 1980's, Suchon's life and work was studied by feminist historians and moral philosophers for the first time. It was not until the late 20th century that Suchon was established as a influential moral philosopher and feminist writer in the academic community.

Suchon is considered to be the most prominent pro-woman writer during the reign of Louis XIV (1600-1715), a time where both intellectual creativity and economic freedom allowed to women were greatly stifled in France.

Miscellaneous to add
Marie de Gournay is Suchon's most similar contemporary.

Suchon describes women as essentially equal to men in intellect. She asserts that both physical freedom and freedom to discover knowledge are natural rights. Suchon asserts that by denying women the right to knowledge they are denied agency in the public sphere. Suchon argues that men oppress and degrade women and women are forced to respect their oppressors. Suchon argues that by attaining freedom, women will gain knowledge and authority and can cast off the idea that women inherently negative.

Suchon suggested that female ignorance was the cause of "all evils committed in the world". Suchon emphasizes the negative effect on society and the world at large by female oppression.

Suchon's work serves as a valuable historical document. It details the plight of women in the early modern era in getting education, the realities of marriage and life in convents.

Suchon argues that a good Christian strives to better themselves. Women are deprived of the tools needed to better themselves spiritually, morally and socially.