Jacqueline-Charlotte Dufresnoy

Coccinelle was the first French celebrity to undergo gender-affirming surgery, and the first widely publicised post-war gender reassignment case in Europe.

The wedding laid the legal and religious foundations for trans people to marry in France. She later appeared in the 1968 Spanish romantic drama Días de viejo color. After the operation, the doctor just said, ‘Bonjour, Mademoiselle’, and I knew it had been a success.” Her 1960 wedding to French journalist Francis Bonnet was groundbreaking. Coccinelle was born in Paris on 23 August 1931. They were married in a Catholic ceremony, with that condition that she got re-baptised beforehand.

There is a new Google doodle celebrating the life of Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy, aka Coccinelle. She was a trendsetter in France and is beloved for her ...

It was this wedding that established in French law that transgender people had the right to marry in the country. In the 60s, she even turned to cinema, acting in two films, Los viciosos and Días de viejo color in 1962 and 1968 respectively. One night, at a party during her teenage years, she turned up wearing a red dress with black polka dots, earning her the nickname Coccinelle, which translates to ladybug in English.

The illustrious club singer, born on August 23, 1931, went by the stage name Coccinelle. Labelled a male at birth, Coccinelle was the first known French person ...

Activism was not central to her early life and works, but later in life she founded Devenir Femme, an organisation meaning to ‘To Become Woman’. Her autobiography was published in 1987, titled Coccinelle par Coccinelle, and detailed her rise to stardom and a life of activism. Their union was the first marriage of a trans person to be recognised by the French government – and the Catholic church that re-baptised her as Jacqueline. Although Coccinelle went on to marry twice more, this marked a moment in history that set the precedent for the legal right to marry for trans people in France. [French ](/topic/french) [actress](/topic/actress) and entertainer, was reincarnated as the star of Tuesday’s [Google Doodle](/topic/google-doodle). Labelled a male at birth, Coccinelle was the first known French person to undergo sex-reassignment surgery in Europe after World War I.