report by- Sheiban Shakeri
In this era of political correctness, women's rights, and open-mindedness, I am reminded of a time when minds weren't so open. The inspiration to write this came from Peter Haydon's article about women in Formula One.
Two years ago, when working in a book storage facility at the university (Manual labour, a student job!), I met a retired French professor who appraised books, and we had a great rapport.
I never asked about her age, since I learned never to ask a woman that, but she was easily into her 70s.
She had a broken wrist, so my job on those hot summer days was to write down the prices of books that she appraised.
It was after the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix and the death of Édouard Michelin had hung over the racing community. Not having a television or internet access, she still knew about the death and was very sad about it.
I told her that the Grand Prix in Monaco had happened, how the champagne on the podium was not sprayed in his memory, and the first thing she asked me about it was if Renault was still racing. She learned that not only was Renault racing, they were winning!
I had only worked with her for two weeks, and this was the first time that I saw her genuinely happy. She told me that she never planned on becoming a professor, she always dreamt of becoming a racing driver like the greats in her time.
She told me that in the 1950s, when she was in her 20s, she went to try out for a French racing team. She was put through her paces by going around a track to see how fast she can go. They put her through water, oil slicks, and everything else you can imagine, and she passed with flying colours.
However, devastation ensued when she was called. While she was accepted, she was told that she would not be allowed to race because she was a woman.
She was bound to get married and start a family. The money they would spend on her would go to waste. She would have to commit the best years of her life to racing, something that just could not be balanced at the time.
"I was very heartbroken," she said.
Still, being rejected did not mean moping around for her. She ended up going to university in France and eventually, she became a full-time professor in French studies at the University of Toronto.
I met her when she was widowed and retired, and after that meeting, I realized that women were always proving themselves in every field. It never was a fad to begin with, they were always trying to break the mold, always.
Professor Corneaux passed away last year due to illness. She was loved by her family and everyone that met her. I might have only known her briefly, but the impact she left on me stayed forever.
She told the female students never to give up and never to stop when they're told to, just because they are women. They should pursue their dreams until they make it.
I will never forget her, and I'm sure that she is up there racing with the greats like Juan Manuel Fangio, Gilles Villeneuve, Ayrton Senna, and many others. Her perseverance, even in the light of not being able to be a driver, is what makes me admire her.
check the link for furthur details of this heartbreaking story--http://bleacherreport.com/articles/4296 ... -f1-driver
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). Anyway, she was also a model and a dancer and had affairs with guys like Rotschild and Bugatti, which means that Ms. Delangle was truly ahead (or behind) of her time.
