Maria Pognon née Rengnet (15 February 1844 – 17 April 1925) was a French journalist, editor, feminist, suffragist, pacifist and freemason, who is remembered for her success as a women's rights activist in the late 19th century.
As a freemason, she was one of the 17 founders of the Loge du Droit humain (Human Rights Lodge), which was open to both men and women.
[4] Brought up in a well-to-do family, in 1873 she married the architect Raymond Pognon, with whom she had a son and a daughter.
From 1892, she was a leading figure in the French League for Women's Rights (Ligue Française pour le Droit des Femmes), becoming president two years later and remaining in the post until 1903.
[1] Pognon was also a keen writer, contributing some 70 articles to the women's journal La Fronde between 1897 and 1900.