Tuesday, 22 October 2024
Government House
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC

Bujari gamarruwa

Diyn Babana Gamarada Gadigal Ngura

I greet you in the language of the Gadigal, the Traditional Owners and Custodians of these lands and waterways. I pay my respects to their Elders, past, present and future.

What a privilege it is to welcome you all, not only to Government House this evening, but also to Sydney on the occasion of the 71^st Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises Mondiales (FCEM) World Congress.

In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, Yvonne Bergeot^[1], a 22-year-old Parisian was put in charge of a tool-making factory in Paris^[2]. The factory’s two owners^[3], the brothers-in-law Maurice Savarin and Edmond Foinant who had founded the enterprise only the year before, had been mobilized as part of the war effort, and it was left to Yvonne, their secretary, to manage the new business in their absence.^[4]

Thus began the transformation of a young woman with dreams of becoming a dancer^[5] into one of France’s great industrialists.

For, Yvonne not only kept Maurice and Edmond’s business afloat during the war years, but expanded its operations considerably^[6] such that, when they returned in 1918, she was kept on as the company’s Commercial Director.^[7] Four years later, in 1922, she married Edmond and became Madame Foinant.^[8]

Following Edmond’s death in 1928 at only 41,^[9] Yvonne increasingly took over management of the company, first as General Manager and then as CEO, up until her retirement nearly 50 years later^[10]; Maurice took care of running the factory, which moved to Charleville-Mézières in the Ardennes, while Yvonne ran the business side of things from Paris.^[11]

In the later years of the Second World War, the factory was swept up in the conflict and forced to close due to damage and evacuations in the Ardennes. With the Armistice signed in June 1940, Yvonne, who had refused to leave Paris during the occupation, made her way to Charleville alone, and was amongst the first people to return to the region. She immediately set about, singlehandedly, organising the refit and repair of the factory such that, when Maurice and other employees arrived a month-and-a-half later, the factory could recommence production immediately^[12].

It is this tenacity and resolve, along with her business acumen, that enabled Yvonne to build a formidable tool making and supplier enterprise throughout Europe.

She became the first female Vice-President of Federation of the French Metalworking Industry, and representative of the Ardennes region in the Confédération générale du patronat français, which later became MEDEF, and which your current World President, Madame Oghly^[13] has served in numerous leadership roles.^[14] She was also the first elected female member of the Paris Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and in 1969, received the insignia of Commander of the Legion of Honour for her contribution to industry and commerce.^[15]

As all in this room can attest, success as a woman in industries often seen as the sole provenance of men can be – to say the least – challenging. Yvonne Foinant was acutely aware of this. She was a leading voice in calls for the enfranchisement of French women, finally achieved in 1944^[16], and changes to the Civil Code restricting their economic independence.^[17] She also began building networks of women business owners throughout France, and then Europe, with the aim of empowering each other’s success through networking, sharing knowledge and expertise, and raising each other’s profile.

Embedded within this was the realisation not only that women deserved the same opportunities as men in building their businesses, but also, had vital contributions to make as leaders of change. As she said, “L’homme et la femme sont les deux yeux de notre civilisation et il importe que celle-ci reste binoculaire.“^[18]

To this end, in 1945, she founded Femmes chefs d’entreprise, which in 1965, following expansion internationally beyond Europe, became Femmes chefs d’enterprise mondiales.^[19]

Today, FCEM represents, through your national affiliates and international networks, women business owners from over 120 countries.^[20]

Business is, of course, a key driver of economic activity.

In Australia, small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) account for about a third of our GDP. One third of these businesses are owned by women, a near 50% increase over the last two decades.^[21]

Whilst this is welcome news, much more needs to be done.

There are solutions, and women are at the heart of it.

When asked in a recent survey of Australian women business owners to nominate key drivers to their success, more than 50% included the support of other women business owners, 42% mentorships, and 41% female role models.^[22]

I congratulate all of you, and the national affiliate members you represent, for being part of this solution and your part in continuing FCEM’s legacy of supporting and empowering women entrepreneurs globally, of encouraging collaborative, proactive, and innovative entrepreneurialism in a landscape of fast-moving economic and societal change, for your mentorships and leadership programs.^[23]

Congratulations, also, to Andrea^[24] and the team from Women Chiefs of Enterprises (Australia) (WCEI) not only for earning the honour of hosting this year’s FCEM World Congress under the theme ‘Connecting the Dots: Women Leading Globally’, but also for putting together a program building on and reflecting that legacy; for instance, the sessions devoted to integrating the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals into business strategies, and harnessing AI in entrepreneurship.

I also, of course, commend and congratulate FCEM’s sagacity in choosing Sydney as the location for this year’s World Congress.

As Governor of this State, I say this without the slightest bias – there is no more beautiful, welcoming, and dynamic places to hold an event of this nature than NSW. For those coming for the first time from interstate or overseas, I hope it is but a taster that will bring you back again and again, whether for business or pleasure.

In welcoming all of you, I wish you the very best for the coming week. Enjoy your time here, connect with each other, learn from each other, and inspire each other.

In the words of Yvonne Foinant,

“Seules nous somes invisibles. Ensemble nous sommes invincibles!”^[25]

Thank you.

[1] Yvonne Agathe Bergeot was born in Paris on 10 October 1892, the daughter of Jules Bergeot, an engineer: Yvonne Bergeot’s Birth Certificate (no. 1521), in Acte de naissance à Paris, 1892, 8, available through the Paris Archives website here; Cristiane Eifert, ‘The World Association of Women Entrepreneurs, 1945-1970s: Objectives and Results within Cold War Europe’, paper delivered at the European Business History Association 11^th Annual Conference, Geneva, 13-15 September 2007, p.2, available here

[2] ‘Yvonne Foinant: Maîtresse de Forges’, in Les Almanach des Ardennes 2022, p.192, available here

[3] Maurice Savarin and Edmond Foinant, their company, Savarin et Foinant, was founded in 1913: Camille Catudal, ‘Patronnes dans l'industrie lourde’, Bibliothèque Nationale de France Gallica website, available here. It seems Maurice Savarin was married to Edmond Foinant’s sister, according to a 1910 reference to a “Madame Savarin, née Foinant”: Geneanet website, available here

[4] Catudal, ‘Patronnes dans l’industrie lourde’, op. cit.

[5] Roger Grison, ‘Mme Foinant: Maitre de Forges’, Le Petit Parisien, 15 December 1943, p.1, available here

[6] Including acquiring exclusive rights from the Roll steelworks in Gerlafingen, Switzerland, to manufacture and distribute their spanners in France: Cristiane Eifert, ‘The World Association of Women Entrepreneurs, 1945-1970s: Objectives and Results within Cold War Europe’, paper delivered at the European Business History Association 11^th Annual Conference, Geneva, 13-15 September 2007, p.2, available here. According to Roger Grison’s 1943 article in Le Petit Parisien, Yvonne “réussit non seulement à maintenir l’affaire qui lui avait été confiée, mais à faire passer son chiffre d’opérations de 1 à 125”: Grison, ‘Mme Foinant: Maitre de Forges’, op. cit.  

[7] Literally, Directrice Commerciale: ‘Yvonne Foinant: Maîtresse de Forges’, in Les Almanach des Ardennes 2022, p.192, available here. This involved managing the company’s administration, book-keeping, and sales: Eifert, ‘The World Association of Women Entrepreneurs’, op. cit., p.2

[8] On 11 January 1922, in the 10e Arrondissement, Paris: Marginalia on Yvonne Bergeot’s Birth Certificate (no. 1521), in Acte de naissance à Paris, 1892, 8, available through the Paris Archives website here.

[9] Obituary, February 1928, available here

[10] Yvonne retired in 1972, the factory in Charleville was closed in 1978 following the sale of Savarin et Foinant to the Bessey Group: ‘Yvonne Foinant: Maîtresse de Forges’, op. cit., p.192; Bessey Historical Timeline, available here

[11] Catudal, ‘Patronnes dans l'industrie lourde’, op. cit. To mark both the death of her husband, and her own increased role in running the enterprise, the company’s name was changed from Savarin et Foinant to Savarin et Veuve (‘widow’) Foinant: ibid.

[12] Grison, ‘Mme Foinant: Maitre de Forges’, op. cit.

[13] Madame Marie Christine Oghly, World President, Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises Mondiales.

[14] From provided biography: “In 2007, she was elected President of Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF) Île-de-France, and in 2008, she became an Executive Board Member of MEDEF, a role she held until 2014. From 2014 to 2018, she served as Vice President of MEDEF's International Pole and Commission. In July 2018, she was re-elected as an Executive Board Member of MEDEF and also became President of the Education, Training, and Competences Commission.”

[15] Catudal, ‘Patronnes dans l'industrie lourde’, op. cit.; Eifert, ‘The World Association of Women Entrepreneurs’, op. cit., p.2

[16] French Women were declared eligible to take part in elections on the same terms as men by a decree passed on the 21 April 1944 by Charles de Galle’s Government in exile; they first exercised that right in Municipal and National elections in 1945: Jessica Phelan, ‘Women's Long Battle to Vote in France and the Generations who Fought It’, 21 April 2024, RFI online, available here

[17] See, for instance: Paul Smith ‘French Feminisms in the Twenties and Thirties’ and ‘The Eternal Mirror: Feminism and the Civil Code’, available here and here

[18] “Man and woman are the two eyes of our civilisation and it’s important that it remains binocular”: Yvonne Foinant, quoted in Eifert, ‘The World Association of Women Entrepreneurs’, op. cit., p.3.

[19] Femmes Chefs d’Entreprise (FCE), was registered as an association in Paris on 11 February 1945; changed to Femmes Chefs d’Entreprise Mondiales (FCEM) on 13. May 1965: Eifert, ‘The World Association of Women Entrepreneurs’, op. cit., p.3 n.2.

[20] ‘About us’, FCEM website, available here

[21] Kate Christie, ‘The Rise and Rise of the Powerhouse Women in Australian Small Business’, 1 May 2023, GirlTalkHQ online, available here

[22] Networks & Impact: How Women are Defying the Odds to Build Successful Businesses in Today’s Economy, Women’s Agenda/CommBank Women in Focus, 2024, pp.6-7, 18, available here

[23] For instance the Indian Ocean ‘Business Without Borders’ program, which has already benefitted over 200 women in countries including Mauritius and Madagascar: Jean Claude Le Roy, ‘AMFCE and MCB celebrate the 2nd cohort of graduates of Business Without Borders’, Maurice Info Archive website, available here. Diane (Di) Tompson, Vice President, Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises Mondiales, who was instrumental in setting up the scheme, will be amongst the guests.

[24] Andrea Plawutsky, WCEI National President

[25] “Alone we are invisible. Together we are invincible!”: quote attributed to Yvonne Foinant, Femmes chefs d’enterprises (FCE) website, available here