Excluding Women Is 'Contradictory'

France should open a debate on the inscription above the Pantheon in Paris to better reflect the contributions of the women laid to rest there, the country's education minister said on Monday.

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Paris -

Above the entrance to the Pantheon, the secular temple to France's heroes on Paris' Left Bank, is inscribed: "To great men, the grateful homeland" ("Aux Grandes Hommes, La Patrie Reconnaissante") in honour of over 80 figures, mostly men, recognised for their historic contributions.

But that inscription fails to reflect the achievements of the five women inducted into the mausoleum, French Education Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Monday.