Today’s Google Doodle celebrates pioneering French entertainer Coccinelle

Coccinelle was a pioneer for the LGBT+ community

(Getty Images)

Tuesday’s Google Doodle is dedicated to celebrating the 91st birthday of singer and entertainer Coccinelle.

The French actor, real name Jacqueline-Charlotte Dufresnoy, was a pioneer for the LGBT+ community and was the first person in her country to undergo gender-affirming surgery.

Designated male at birth, Coccinelle grew up with a deep, inner sense of being a woman, and wished to pursue her interests in fashion and performance.

During her teenage years, after wearing a red dress with black polka dots to a party, the famous entertainer earned the nickname Coccinelle, which translates to ladybug in English.

In 1953, Coccinelle made her stage debut at Madame Arthur, a cabaret venue in Paris, performing a song from the film Premier rendez-vous. After that, she earned a role at Le Carrousel de Paris, a popular music hall with many transgender performers, where her talent and stage presence captivated audiences.

In 1958, she travelled to Casablanca to undergo a vaginoplasty by Dr Georges Burou.

“Dr Burou rectified the mistake nature had made and I became a real woman, on the inside as well as the outside,” Coccinelle said at the time.

“After the operation, the doctor just said, ‘Bonjour, Mademoiselle’, and I knew it had been a success.”

After returning home from her surgery, Coccinelle became a media sensation with a look and stage act based on the prominent sex symbols of the day.

(Getty Images)

In 1959, Italian singer Ghigo Agosti dedicated the song “Coccinella” to her.

Throughout her career, Coccinelle worked extensively as an activist on behalf of transgender people and founded the organisation Devenir Femme – which translates “to become a woman” – which was designed to provide emotional and practical support to those seeking gender reassignment surgery.

She also helped establish the Center for Aid, Research, and Information for Transsexuality and Gender Identity.

Additionally, Coccinelle’s first marriage to journalist Francis Bonnet was the first union to be officially acknowledged by the government of France, establishing transgender people’s legal right to marry.

In 2006, Coccinelle was hospitalised due to a stroke. She died on 9 October in Marseille.