Camille du Gast: France's extraordinary first woman racer

Camille du Gast wasn't the first woman to get behind the wheel of a race car, but she was the first woman who gained international recognition for doing so when she began taking part in grand epreuves as early as 1901. She was the first woman in France to earn a driver's license, the first woman to hold an official role in the Automobile Club de France.

But to call Camille du Gast a racer and nothing else would be to diminish a lifetime of accomplishments. She donned the title of exploratrice, traveling the world while also competing in motor boat racing, fencing, skiing, tobogganing, fencing, and hot air ballooning. She was the controversial subject of a pornographic scandal, and the intended target of a failed murder plot hatched by none other than her only daughter. And while that might have been enough to push a person into hiding for the remainder of her life, Camille du Gast wouldn't be silenced. Instead, she became a prominent activist campaigning for the rights and dignified treatment of both women and animals. 

This week on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we're delving deeper into the remarkable life of Camille du Gast and situating her turn-of-the-century accomplishments within the greater context of women in motorsport.

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Episode Bibliography: 

Race to the Future: 8,000 Miles to Paris — The Adventure that Accelerated the Twentieth Century by Kassia St. Clair

Cars at Speed: The Grand Prix Circuit by Robert Daley

https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/news/women-in-motorsport-social-history-camille-du-gast/

https://guides.loc.gov/feminism-french-women-history/famous/camille-du-gast

https://web.archive.org/web/20150608201218/http://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/racing/wiwc/bios/pioneers/CamilleDuGast.pdf

https://www.vintag.es/2023/05/camille-du-gast.html

https://blog.imagesmusicales.be/camille-du-gast-the-valkyrie-of-motorsports/

https://speedqueens.blogspot.com/2010/01/camille-du-gast.html 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5vjd61.7?seq=12 

https://annehelen.substack.com/p/the-fascinating-and-surprising-history?r=3mpdgy&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true 

https://gettingaround.substack.com/p/dufayel-paris-had-the-most-beautiful-staircase 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/80620267/?match=1&terms=%22Camille%20du%20gast%22&_gl=1%2akg4h9y%2a_up%2aMQ..&gclid=CjwKCAiAqrG9BhAVEiwAaPu5zinarN6sTwRXIAG8BQ7n5kyw7AKyBsnsc1bFahJmRyS6Uh9Oub71ohoCHcgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/41522580/?match=1&terms=%22Camille%20du%20gast%22&_gl=1%2akg4h9y%2a_up%2aMQ..&gclid=CjwKCAiAqrG9BhAVEiwAaPu5zinarN6sTwRXIAG8BQ7n5kyw7AKyBsnsc1bFahJmRyS6Uh9Oub71ohoCHcgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-paris-berlin-motor-carriage-rac/

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https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/68721163

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/68721181