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Marie Popelin

Belgian advocate, educator, feminist (1846–1913)

Marie Popelin (16 December 1846 – 5 June 1913) was a Belgian jurist and early feminist political campaigner. Popelin worked with Isabelle Gatti de Gamond in the development of women's education and, in 1888, became the first Belgian woman to receive a doctorate in law.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Marie Popelin (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Dec 16, 1846, died Jun 5, 1913.¹

About

After her accession to the bar was refused, Popelin went on to have an active career as the leader of the Belgian League for Women's Rights. She died in 1913 without ever gaining admission to the bar.

From Wikipedia’s article on Marie Popelin, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.²

Companies

Conseil des Femmes Francophones de BelgiqueFounder¹¹

Early life and education

Date not recordedFree University of Brussels³

Career

Occupation: lawyer, women's rights activist, jurist.⁷

1905 to 1913President, Conseil des Femmes Francophones de Belgique⁶
Date not recordedFounded Conseil des Femmes Francophones de Belgique⁴
Date not recordedFounded Ligue belge du droit des femmes⁵
Date not recordedGeneral secretary, Ligue belge du droit des femmes⁶

Personal life

BornDec 16, 1846, Schaerbeek⁸
DiedJun 5, 1913, Brussels⁹
CitizenshipBelgium¹⁰

Politics

Political activities

Marie Popelin participated in two feminist conferences in Paris in 1889, and established the Belgian League for the Rights of Women (Ligue belge du droit des femmes) in 1892 with the assistance of Isala Van Diest and Léonie La Fontaine. Popelin was a friend of American feminist May Wright Sewall, who she had met in Paris in 1889, and with Sewall's encouragement, the Belgian section of the International Council of Women was established from 1893. Popelin's efforts to create an independent feminist movement outside the scope of "pillarization", not linked to the Catholic, Liberal, or Belgian Labour Party, were only a partial success. The National Council of Belgian Women (Conseil national des femmes belges), created in 1905, received only limited support from the women's sections of the political parties.

In spite of this tepid initial reception, many of Popelin objectives were met before her death in 1913. These legislative reforms did not, however, include two of Popelin's most important demands: universal adult suffrage, and equal access to the liberal professions for women. Modern studies acknowledge Marie Popelin's central role in the creation of a Belgian feminist movement.