Honoring Women - NYTimes.com Regarding "Why so few women in the Panthéon?" (Oct. 26): Robert Zaretsky urges President François Hollande to display "heroism and generosity" by allocating the next two available places in the Panthéon to the mortal remains of women. Leaving aside Mr. Zaretsky's hyperbolic estimation of the qualities required to have a couple of coffins moved from one vault to another, it is doubtful that such a gesture would do women any favor. A systematic reassessment of history in order to bring to light figures who have been unfairly overlooked could easily yield as many men as women, and gender should not become a decisive criterion in determining merit. There needs no ghost come from the grave to point out that over the centuries, in virtually all societies and civilizations, women have been prevented or discouraged in a thousand and one ways from achieving their potential beyond certain narrowly defined areas. Nothing can be done about this lamentable fact retroactively; fabricating fame for women whose names have not resonated down the ages is patronizing and paternalistic. Women need no leg up. As Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher and Angela Merkel evince, women will achieve historical prominence of one kind or another under their own steam, when given half a chance. Alejandro H. Rodríguez-Giovo The writer teaches English literature and theory of knowledge at the International School of Geneva.