 On 14 January 1882, Maria Deraismes was initiated into Freemasonry in Loge Libre Penseurs (Freethinkers Lodge), in Le Pecq, just outside Paris.Deraismes was a well known writer and campaigner for democracy, women's rights, and the separation of church and state.Her lodge, on 9 January, had seceded from "la Grande Loge Symbolique Ecossaise" in order to initiate her.