When Jean-Louis Debré speaks, he doesn't have to look far to grab our attention.

Magistrate, Minister of the Interior, President of the National Assembly, President of the Constitutional Council, but also, for over thirty years, author of bestselling detective and historical novels, radio commentator and television presenter. And now he's on stage with Valérie Bochenek.

In her own way, she is also a brilliant jack-of-all-trades: pantomime, director, designer of a jewellery brand and writer, including the reference work on Marceau pantomime.

They are both actors and speakers in Ces femmes qui ont réveillé la France, written by four hands. Complicit and complementary. She is poetic, sensitive and attentive to detail. He is driven by the precision of historical facts and the transmission of his love for the Republic.

Some twenty portraits of women, pioneers and firsts. Those who became famous, such as Louise Michel, Simone Veil, Olympe de Gouges, George Sand, Colette and Marguerite Yourcenar. There are others, forgotten or unrecognised, whose passion and perseverance have helped to reshape our society. Who remembers Julie-Victoire Daubié, the first woman to graduate from high school, who paved the way for women's access to higher education? Jeanne Chauvin, the first female lawyer, Madeleine Brès, the first female doctor?

These were the women who shook up conservatism and pushed the boundaries, unafraid to confront and challenge the powers that be. Above all, they dared to be independent, free and equal.