Women's International Democratic Federation
The Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) is an international women's rights organization. Established in 1945, it was most active during the Cold War when, according to historian Francisca de Haan, it was "the largest and probably most influential international women's organization of the post-1945 era". Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, its headquarters were moved from Berlin to Paris. In 2002, with the election of Márcia Campos as president, the office relocated to Brasília. Subsequently, in 2007 the WIDF secretariat was located in São Paulo. Since 2016, the president has been Lorena Peña of El Salvador. The WIDF's magazine, Women of the Whole World, was published in six languages: Arabic, English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish.
Original WIDF logo from its founding
Eugénie Cotton, 1952
Cover of Femmes Francaises showing Cotton receiving the Stalin prize for peace from Nina Popova.
Hertta Kuusinen, 1958
Eugénie Cotton was a French scientist, socialist, women's rights advocate and was active in the resistance. She was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize in 1951, Knight of the Legion of Honor, and the Gold medal from the World Peace Council in 1961. She died at 85 in Sèvres, near Paris.
Standing, from left to right: Marthe and Anna Cartan. Sitting: Madeleine, Marie Curie and Eugénie Cotton.
One of several streets named for Eugénie Cotton in France.