Female Agents of Colonialism: Women Doctors in Algeria at the Turn of the Century

ABSTRACT: Dorothée Chellier was born in Algiers in 1860 to French settler parents and became the first female French doctor in colonial Algeria, after completing her studies in Paris. As she had in-depth knowledge of the country, she was sent on "medical missions" to various parts of remote Algeria in the 1890s with the express goal of observing the lives and medical problems of "native" women. Chellier published a short book about a mission to the Aurès region in 1895, in which she focused on gynaecological issues among Algerian women. She often described how these women voluntarily contacted and trusted her, apparently eager to get help from a female French doctor. She also highlighted the importance of female medical experts for the future of France's colonial project in Algeria, as Muslim women had been mostly hidden from her male counterparts throughout the 19th century. This article proposes to analyse Chellier's detailed descriptions of (the limitations of) the agency of Algerian women and contrast this with her own actions, influences and reception. Upon publication in 1895, her book was well received in French newspapers and her pioneering work served as an example to those female French doctors, like Hélène Abadie-Feyguine and Françoise Legey, who became active around the turn of the century in colonial Algeria. While sympathetic to many aspects of the lives of Algerian women, it is important to understand Chellier as an agent of colonialism. She defined her goals as providing medical help to formerly neglected groups in Algeria, as well as helping to "educate" the masses that she clearly viewed as being ignorant and unwilling to conform with France's guidance. This was in line with the ideology of France's paternalistic mission civilisatrice and with the opinions professed by her male colleagues.