They were established by Alice Milliat and the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI)[1][2] to compensate for the lack of women's sports at the Olympic Games.
On refusal Milliat organised a first competition in 1921 called the Women's Olympiad in Monte Carlo; further editions were held in 1922 and 1923.
[2][3][5] A European version of the women's games was hosted in 1931 in Florence and was known as the Olimpiadi della Grazia (Olympics of Grace).
Four regular events were held, a planned 5th was cancelled as women participated in the 1938 European Athletics Championships.
How to lose gracefully in an internationally selfish world: gender, the “New Jew” and the underestimation of athletic performance in interwar Palestine, Journal of Modern Jewish Studies