Aimée Bologne-Lemaire (6 January 1904 – 20 December 1998) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, member of the resistance, and Walloon activist. Estelle Aimée Lemaire was born into a middle-class family in

Saint-Gilles, Belgium ( French, ) or (Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the southern part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Anderlecht, Forest and Ixelles. In common with all of Bruss ...

. Her father was a lawyer, socialist and university professor; her mother was a school teacher. Aimée studied at the ULB, where she joined the student socialist society, graduating in 1926. She became a teacher, first in

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

, then in

Ixelles ( French, ) or (Dutch, ), is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Brussels' city centre, it is geographically bisected by the City of Brussels. It is also bordered by the muni ...

until 1943, then returning to Charleroi to take up the post of director of the ''Athénée Royal Vauban''. In 1929 she married Maurice Bologne, an activist in the Parti Ouvrier Belge, predecessor of the modern Belgian socialist parties (

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

and

Socialist Party – Different Vooruit (Dutch for Forward, ) is a Flemish social democratic political party in Belgium. The party was known as the Flemish Socialist Party (1978–2001: ''Socialistische Partij'', SP; 2001–2021: ''Socialistische Partij Anders'', SP.A) until 2 ...

). During the 1930s, the couple were active in left-wing circles, including support for the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

and membership in the

Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes The Watchfulness Committee of Antifascist Intellectuals (''Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes'', CVIA) was a French political organization created in March 1934, in the wake of the February 6, 1934 riots organized by far right leag ...

. In 1938 Lemaire-Bologne was among the founder-members of the "Historical Society for the Defence of Walloon Culture". During the German occupation of Belgium in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she was associated with the

Wallonie Libre ''Wallonie libre'' ( French; literally "Free Wallonia") is a minor political party active in Wallonia in Belgium which originated as a group active within the resistance in German-occupied Belgium during World War II. Affiliated with the Walloon ...

organisation. She continued to work for a Walloon cultural renaissance, and headed the Wallonia-Association's female arm, which attempted to save Jewish children from deportation, and to feed undernourished children. She also undertook clandestine work distributing socialist newspapers, and running the secretariat of the banned Socialist Party. In 1943, as a result of her work in thwarting the German efforts to conscript young women in Charleroi into German industry (the so-called

arbeitseinsatz ''Arbeitseinsatz'' (german: for 'labour deployment') was a forced labour category of internment within Nazi Germany (german: Zwangsarbeit) during World War II. When German men were called up for military service, Nazi German authorities rounded ...

), she was obliged to go into hiding. After the war, Bologne-Lemaire was a participant at the

Walloon national congress Walloon may refer to: * Walloons, a French-speaking population of Belgium * Walloon language * Walloon Region or Wallonia in Belgium ** Walloon Government * Walloon Lake * Walloon, Queensland See also * ''The Walloons'', a 1782 play by Richard C ...

in 1945. She returned to teaching in Charleroi, retiring in 1961. In 1960 she joined the board of the Institut Jules Destrée. She joined the Walloon Front, a movement which turned into the

Walloon Rally The Walloon Rally (french: Rassemblement wallon; RW) is a regionalist political party in Belgium, active in Wallonia since 1968. The party favoured federalism and since 1985 independence. Founded on 7 March 1968, the party contested the Belgi ...

party in 1968. She was president of the women's branch from 1970 to 1976. As well as writing two books, she provided numerous articles for ''Wallonie Libre'' and ''Forces Wallonnes''. Along with her husband, she was a signatory to the

Manifesto for Walloon culture The Manifesto for Walloon Culture (french: Manifeste pour la culture wallonne, links=no), was published in Liège on 15 September 1983 and signed by seventy-five "key figures in artistic, journalistic and university circles" of Wallonia. Wall ...

in 1983. She was the recipient of several Belgian honours, being made an officer of the

Order of Leopold II The Order of Leopold II is an order of Belgium and is named in honor of King Leopold II. The decoration was established on 24 August 1900 by Leopold II as Sovereign of the Congo Free State and was in 1908, upon Congo being handed over to Belgi ...

and a knight of the

Order of Léopold The Order of Leopold ( nl, Leopoldsorde, french: Ordre de Léopold, ) is one of the three current Belgian national honorary orders of knighthood. It is the oldest and highest order of Belgium and is named in honour of its founder, King Le ...

. She also received the Civilian Resistance Medal for her wartime work. Aimée Bologne-Lemaire died at Nalinnes-lez-Charleroi in 1998.

Works by Aimée Bologne-Lemaire

* ''Arille Carlier ou La conscience wallonne.'' Nalinnes-lez-Charleroi: Institut Jules Destrée, 1969 * ''Jules Destrée : 21 août 1863-2 janvier 1936.'' Mont-sur-Marchienne: Institut Jules Destrée, 1976.

References

* Catherine Jacques, "LEMAIRE, Estelle, Aimée...", in Éliane Gubin, Catherine Jacques, Valérie Piette & Jean Puissant (eds), ''Dictionnaire des femmes belges: XIX^e et XX^e siècles.'' Bruxelles: Éditions Racine, 2006. * Suzanne Van Rokegem, Jeanne Vercheval-Vervoort & Jacqueline Aubenas, ''Des femmes dans l'Histoire en Belgique depuis 1830.'' Bruxelles: Éditions Luc Pire, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bologne-Lemaire, Aimee 1904 births 1998 deaths People from Saint-Gilles, Belgium Belgian socialists Walloon people Belgian feminists Belgian resistance members Belgian socialist feminists Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni Walloon movement activists Officers of the Order of Leopold II