Gustave Eiffel, who designed France's world-famous monument, had the names of 72 scholars inscribed on the base of the tower in golden letters. All of them men.

More than 130 years later, Paris authorities are seeking to right a historic wrong by adding the names of 72 illustrious women.

"The aim is to highlight the historical contribution of women to science and technology", said an expert commission in charge of the project, which presented its conclusions to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Friday.

The commission said such a tribute would remedy the so-called "Matilda effect", the term coined by American historian Margaret Rossiter in 1993 to describe the systematic suppression of women's contributions to scientific progress, after US rights activist Matilda Joslyn Gage.

The commission i

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