Via Mulieris

Via Mulieris is a non-partisan association founded in Sion, in the Swiss canton of Valais, on 13 August 2014. Its stated purpose is to encourage research carried out on and by women in Valais, to support the dissemination of publications, to foster the creation of projects and events, and to promote exchanges with other associations pursuing similar goals. The association emerged from the observation that women were largely absent from the official celebrations marking the bicentenary of Valais's entry into the Swiss Confederation, and its founders set out to document and publicise the contribution of women to the canton's history. The inaugural meeting on 13 August 2014 brought together more than 80 people in Grimisuat, hosted by the commune's president, Géraldine Marchand Balet. The association's first president stressed the importance for women of reclaiming their own history. Via Mulieris describes itself as non-partisan and works through a mix of scholarly research, popular communication and public events. Its activities span exhibitions, conferences, publications and films. In 2015, for the bicentenary celebrations, it organised a free bilingual travelling exhibition on aspects of women's lives in Valais, shown in Sierre, Euseigne, Martigny, Sion, Loèche, Saint-Maurice and Brigue, and published around forty articles in collaboration with the daily newspaper Le Nouvelliste. In 2017 it co-organised a scientific colloquium on the history of women in Valais from the 17th century to the present, which attracted more than 230 participants. It took part in the Women's Strike of 14 June 2019 and, with the association Les sans pagEs, organised two days devoted to the history of witches in Valais. In 2024, for its tenth anniversary, it held an evening of conferences on Valais women in prehistory, with palaeontologist and historian of science Claudine Cohen as guest of honour. On the publication side, Via Mulieris contributed in 2016 to the film Récits d'espoir, collaborated in 2018 with the Société d'histoire du Valais romand on an issue of the Annales valaisannes devoted to the history of women in Valais, and in 2020 commemorated 50 years of women's suffrage in Valais with the documentary Bilan d'une épopée: 50 ans du droit de vote des femmes en Valais, directed by Cilette Cretton and accompanied by an educational dossier for schools. In 2021 it published, with the Archives de l'État du Valais, a study by historian Marie-France Vouilloz Burnier on Marie-Rose Zingg, founder of the Pouponnière valaisanne in Sion. In 2024 it collaborated with the association Plan-Fixe on a portrait of Cilette Cretton, and its historians Véronique Borgeat-Pignat, Aline Mabillard and Geneviève Lévine-Cuennet published La traversée en solidaire. Les 40 ans du Centre Suisses-Immigrés. Via Mulieris operates as a membership-based association rather than a commercial company, and its historians are recognised as an important resource for contributors to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. It remains active in the Valais, continuing to publish articles and organise events, including its 2026 general assembly and work on figures such as Marie-Rose Zingg.

Via Mulieris was founded in Sion, in the Swiss canton of Valais, on 13 August 2014. Its creation followed the observation that women were absent from the celebrations accompanying the commemoration of the bicentenary of Valais's entry into the Swiss Confederation. The founders decided to fill this gap and to show the contribution of the female part of society to the canton's history, where the fight against poverty, misery and disease knows no gender boundaries. The inaugural session, held on 13 August 2014, brought together more than 80 people in Grimisuat; Via Mulieris was welcomed by the commune's president, Géraldine Marchand Balet. The association's first president underlined the importance for women of reclaiming their history. In 2015, for the bicentenary celebrations of Valais's entry into the Swiss Confederation in 1815, Via Mulieris organised a free bilingual travelling exhibition on certain aspects of women's lives in Valais. After an opening at the Haute école en Travail social in Sierre, the exhibition was presented in Euseigne, Martigny, Sion, Loèche, Saint-Maurice and Brigue. That year, from 22 June to 7 August, in collaboration with the daily newspaper Le Nouvelliste, it published around forty articles on the situation of women in the canton. In 2016 it took part in the making of a film, Récits d'espoir, related to ageing well. In 2017 it collaborated with the Société d'histoire du Valais romand, the HES-SO in Sierre and the Société Patrimoine Hérémence to organise a scientific colloquium devoted to the history of women in Valais: Histoire des femmes en Valais du XVIIe siècle à nos jours. Statuts, rôles et pouvoirs (29 April 2017), which brought together more than 230 people. In 2018 it collaborated with the Société d'histoire du Valais romand on the annual review Annales valaisannes, devoted to the history of women in Valais; the publication was illustrated with more than 200 photographs that finally gave "a face to women long relegated to the shadow of men". In 2019 it took part in the Women's Strike of 14 June and, the same year, organised with the association Les sans pagEs two days devoted to the history of witches in the canton of Valais, Sion being one of the first cities in Europe to have implemented the witch hunt through the opening of the Valais witch trials. In 2020 it commemorated 50 years of women's suffrage in Valais by producing a film entitled Bilan d'une épopée: 50 ans du droit de vote des femmes en Valais, directed by Cilette Cretton. Several screenings took place in cinemas in Valais. Considered an important educational tool by the Department of Education, the documentary was accompanied by an educational dossier intended for pupils in the canton of Valais. The historians of Via Mulieris are an important resource for contributors to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. In 2021 it published, in collaboration with the Archives de l'État du Valais, a study devoted to Marie-Rose Zingg, the founder of the Pouponnière valaisanne in Sion. The work was written by the historian Marie-France Vouilloz Burnier. In 2024, on the occasion of its tenth anniversary, it organised an evening of conferences devoted to Valais women through prehistory. Claudine Cohen, palaeontologist, historian of science and professor at the École pratique des Hautes études en Sciences sociales in Paris, was the guest of honour. Anaïs Deville, palaeoanthropologist, Julie Debard, anthropologist specialising in palaeopathology, and Deborah Rosselet, doctoral student at the Laboratory of African Archaeology and Anthropology, completed the evening. Also in 2024, it collaborated with the association Plan-Fixe to produce the portrait of Cilette Cretton. The historians Véronique Borgeat-Pignat, Aline Mabillard and Geneviève Lévine-Cuennet published the work La traversée en solidaire. Les 40 ans du Centre Suisses-Immigrés, produced in collaboration with the Centre Suisses-Immigrés de Sion. The association continues to publish articles and organise events, including its 2026 general assembly and work on Marie-Rose Zingg and the Pouponnière valaisanne.

• 2026

  General assembly held (11 May 2026).

• 2024

  Tenth anniversary conference evening on Valais women in prehistory with Claudine Cohen; collaborates with Plan-Fixe on a portrait of Cilette Cretton; publishes La traversée en solidaire.

• 2021

  Publishes study on Marie-Rose Zingg with the Archives de l'État du Valais, written by Marie-France Vouilloz Burnier.

• 2020

  Produces documentary Bilan d'une épopée: 50 ans du droit de vote des femmes en Valais, directed by Cilette Cretton.

• 2019

  Takes part in the Women's Strike of 14 June; organises two days on the history of witches in Valais with Les sans pagEs.

• 2018

  Collaborates with the Société d'histoire du Valais romand on the Annales valaisannes issue devoted to the history of women in Valais.

• 2017

  Co-organises scientific colloquium Histoire des femmes en Valais du XVIIe siècle à nos jours (29 April), attracting more than 230 people.

• 2016

  Participates in the film Récits d'espoir.

• 2015

  Free bilingual travelling exhibition on women's lives in Valais shown in Sierre, Euseigne, Martigny, Sion, Loèche, Saint-Maurice and Brigue; around forty articles published with Le Nouvelliste.

• 2014

  Via Mulieris founded in Sion on 13 August; inaugural meeting brings together more than 80 people in Grimisuat.

Non-partisan historical association dedicated to research on and by women in Valais and to the public dissemination of that history.

• Bilingual travelling exhibition on women's lives in Valais (2015)

• Annales valaisannes issue on the history of women in Valais (2018)

• Documentary Bilan d'une épopée: 50 ans du droit de vote des femmes en Valais (2020)

• Study on Marie-Rose Zingg and the Pouponnière valaisanne (2021)

• La traversée en solidaire. Les 40 ans du Centre Suisses-Immigrés (2024)

1. 1VIA Mulieris – Le chemin des femmes dans l'histoire du valaisvia-mulieris.ch
2. 21er cycle de conférences : les femmes valaisannes et la préhistoire – VIA Mulierisvia-mulieris.ch
3. 3Via Mulieriswikidata.org
4. 4Via Mulierisfr.wikipedia.org