Yolande Le Calvez (23 April 1910 â 2002) was a French geologist, palaeontologist and geological engineer, specialising in foraminifera and their use in biostratigraphy. She was described by a colleague as the "grande dame" of micropaleontology. She is one of 72 women in STEM whose names have been proposed to be added to the Eiffel Tower.
Yolande Le Calvez was born on 23 April 1910. Her 1970 doctoral thesis focused on the Paleogene of the Paris Basin. She devoted her career to the study of fossil and modern foraminifera, single-celled organisms that maintain the balance of the oceanic ecosystem. She used them as biostratigraphic markers.
In 1934, Le Calvez collaborated with her husband, Jean Le Calvez, a preparator at the Villefranche-sur-Mer Zoological Station, on the reproduction of foraminifera and the study of these micro-organisms in their natural environment.
In 1944, Le Calvez was recruited as a geological engineer for the Bureau de Recherche Géologiques et Géophysiques (later the Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières or BRGM), where she worked with neurologist Pierre Marie. She revised the foraminifera collection and went on to head the micropalaeontology laboratory. When the BRGM moved to Orléans, Le Calvez joined the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Institute of Palaeontology (MNHN) in 1966.
In 1972, Le Calvez took over as head of the micropalaeontology laboratory, succeeding Marthe Deflandre-Rigaud, a position she held until her retirement in 1977. She continued her work promoting the collections of ancient authors and specialists in foraminifera and ostracods. She edited the Cahiers de Micropaléontologie journal during this period.
In 2026, Le Calvez was announced as one of 72 historical women in STEM whose names have been proposed to be added to the 72 men already celebrated on the Eiffel Tower. The plan was announced by the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo following the recommendations of a committee led by Isabelle Vauglin of Femmes et Sciences and Jean-François Martins, representing the operating company which runs the Eiffel Tower.