Marie Popelin

Marie Popelin was the first Belgian woman to receive a doctorate in law and helped make immense steps for feminism in Belgium. She was allowed to go to law school in Belgium, but was never able to practice law due to being unable to either take the bar exam or not being allowed to practice after taking the bar exam (history is unclear on which it was). Following her rejection from the bar she became an advocate for women and their rights. She fought against the idea that women are "legally incompetent," which basically means they are unable to make their own decisions, own land, or understand anything that men do - duh! We're just so feeble and frail. Wrong! That's what Marie Popelin was all about. She knew that women were capable of so much more, which is why she helped establish the Belgian League for the Rights of Women and formed friendships with suffragists from all over. Until the end of her life, she advocated for women and participated in the feminist movement.

Marie Popelin's contribution is important for many reasons. She was a strong advocate for feminism and the education of women. Her struggles and the barriers she went up against helped start the feminist movement in Belgium. She was a strong proponent for reforms in legal systems and society that support women's education, suffrage, legal rights, and professional careers. Her legacy lives on in Belgium today. Women are now allowed to practice law and a few years ago in the Court of Cassation of Belgium, a woman was even made president. Marie Popelin also had many objectives that she wanted to meet for the progession of women's rights and she accomplished a majority of them before her death. Unfortunately she was unable to accomplish the two that were most important to her; universal adult suffrage and equal access for women to liberal professions. However, both of these things are now in place in Belgium thanks to her pioneering the movements.

To talk about Marie Popelin we visited the Palace of Justice, where there is not actually a memorial to her, but is a place that symbolizes what kick started her advocacy for women's rights, because it was where she was discriminated against. She is actually commemorated with a street sign for a tiny little street named for her behind a parking garage. It has been more than a little bit discouraging to see how men are commemorated versus how women are commemorated throughout history. I think that Marie Popelin deserves more than a street sign and more than being remembered as an "angry" woman who was always fighting against something. She deserves to be remembered as an advocate, a powerhouse, and as a woman who did all she could for all women even if it meant upsetting other people. I think that visiting the Palace of Justice was a lot more meaningful and gave me more respect for everything that Marie Popelin did.