This year Mother’s Day falls on Sunday, May 29. If this celebration seems to date from ancient Greece, the day was not institutionalized in France until 1950, under the presidency of Vincent Auriol.
The first origins of Mother’s Day date back to ancient Greece when Rhea, considered the mother of all gods, was celebrated. The Romans also celebrated women and mothers in the 5th century BC.
It was only in the 19th century in France that Napoleon gave birth to the idea of a party that would celebrate all mothers in the spring. Originally, this day was intended to demonstrate the importance of family values and therefore to stimulate the birth rate. On June 10, 1906, mothers are celebrated for the first time in Isère. 12 years later “Mothers’ Day” is celebrated in Lyon.
A law establishing Mother’s Day in 1950
The first official ceremony in favor of women did not take place until April 20, 1926. It was Marshal Pétain who definitively instituted the “National Mother’s Day” on May 25, 1941.
But it will be necessary to wait until May 24, 1950 for the President of the Republic, Vincent Auriol to sign a law which finally legitimizes Mother’s Day, which is then fixed each year on the last Sunday of May.
