Marguerite Dilhan (1876–1956) was the first French lawyer to have pleaded in the sitting court in a criminal case on 26 November 1903, where she received the compliments of the judge for her defense .^[1] After obtaining her diploma at the University Toulouse Capitole, she was sworn in July 1903, at the age of 27, thanks to the law of 1 December 1900 allowing women to take the oath of attorney after Olga Balachowski-Petit and Jeanne Chauvin.^[2] She continued her career as a lawyer by opening a law firm in Toulouse and became Vice-president of the amical organisation of women lawyers in France, which later became the l'association française des femmes des carrières juridiques.

Marguerite Dilhan successfully defended Arria Ly, a radical feminist who defended women's right to fair labor, the right to vote, and self-defense, engaged in duels against men. She also defended soldiers during the First World War before the war council. Later, in her office on rue Gatien-Arnoult, she was the lawyer for the very numerous Spanish refugees in Toulouse from 1939 onwards and for the Remontada. and was also integrated in several associations including the Goutte de lait, a Toulouse association fighting against infant mortality and the École de la paix.

Marguerite Dilhan received the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 1933 and the Officier de la Légion d'honneur in 1949.

The city of Toulouse named a street after her and a commemorative plaque adorns her former law firm, at 2 bis rue Gatien-Arnoult.

In the Gers :

• the city of Miélan named a street for her following a decision of the city council on 29 June 2006.
• the town of Saramon named a street Marguerite Dilhan.

References