This Friday, a customised doodle on the Google Belgium homepage pays tribute to Belgian feminist Isabelle Gatti de Gamond, recognised as the first feminist in Belgium.
On what would have been her 184th birthday, Gatti de Gamond, who stood at the forefront of the first feminist movement in the country, is being remembered with a customised logo. She was one of the first to campaign for equal rights for women.
In the second half of the 19th century, women had little to no legal rights and instead owed obedience to their fathers or husbands. Gatti de Gamond realised that education was the lever in the fight for women's emancipation. In 1864, in agreement with the city council, she opened the 'Cours d'Éducation pour Jeunes Filles' in Rue du Marais in Brussels, which was the first secular secondary school for girls in Belgium.
Its independence from the Roman Catholic Church was groundbreaking at the time, but despite criticism, the school became a success and several local councils in the rest of the country followed suit. Her first school was eventually renamed 'Athénée royal Gatti de Gamond' and still exists today in the Belgian capital, near Rue Neuve.
Gatti de Gamond's secondary schools not only set the framework for more secular secondary schools for girls, it also created a feminist generation and thus the beginning of the first feminist wave in Belgium.
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When women were finally able to go to school, their criticism was given an academic voice and they were able to organise structurally. The graduating girls became pioneers at various levels in Belgium. For example, the first woman to gain access to university, the first female lawyer, and the first woman in the Belgian parliament all graduated from this school. These are also included in the personalised logo for de Gamond.
