Popelin, Marie

(1846-1913)

   The first Belgian woman who earned a degree in law, Marie Popelin was born probably into a well-to-do middle-class family, but little is known of her early life. She taught at Lycée Gatti de Gamond, moved to Mons in 1875, and returned to Brussels at age 37 to begin studies in law at the Université libre de Bruxelles, where she earned her degree in 1888. Frustrated in her efforts to secure a post at the bar, Popelin spent the rest of her life fighting for women's rights. She cofounded the Ligue belge du Droit des Femmes (1897), organized an international congress of feminists to coincide with the World's Fair of 1897, and worked to regroup various feminist organizations in creating the Conseil national des Femmes belges (1905). Sick and exhausted from waging a struggle that had produced few results, Popelin died on 5 June 1913.