Marguerite Alice Lefèvre (1894–1967) was an academic geographer and the first woman to hold a professorship at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of ...

. A prize at the

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, l ...

and a street in

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

are named in her honour.

Life

Lefèvre was born in Steenokkerzeel on 1 March 1894, the daughter of Théophile Lefèvre and Elisabeth Verhulst.R. Christens, "De vrouwelijke factor in the geschiedenis", ''Onze Alma Mater'' 2001, pp. 395—416. She had two brothers, Jean and Maurice. In 1913 she qualified as a teacher at the Paridaens Institute, and started teaching at the Miniemeninstituut. In 1917 she became secretary to Paul Lambert Michotte. In 1921, a year after Leuven university began to accept female students, she enrolled in the business school, going on to obtain a licentiate degree in Commercial and Consular Sciences. In 1925 she completed her doctorate in Paris with a thesis on "L'Habitat rural en Belgique" supervised by

Albert Demangeon Albert Demangeon (13 June 1872 – 25 July 1940) was a Professor of social geography at the Sorbonne in Paris for many years. He was an educator, a prolific author, and in the 1930s was the leading French academic in the field of human geography. H ...

. Lefèvre was appointed an assistant at Leuven university in 1927 and in 1931 spent six months on a fellowship at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. Throughout the 1930s she organised student excursions to experience geographical features first hand, leading to the nickname "le cheftaine" ("the scoutmistress"). At Paul Michotte's death in 1940 she took over from him as Secretary General of the

International Geographical Union The International Geographical Union (IGU; french: Union Géographique Internationale, UGI) is an international geographical society. The first International Geographical Congress was held in Antwerp in 1871. Subsequent meetings led to the establ ...

, serving until 1949.Georges Chabot
Marguerite Alice Lefèvre
''

Annales de Géographie The ''Annales de Géographie'' is a French journal devoted to geography, first published in 1891. From the start the journal was an influential and respected academic journal. History The ''Annales de Géographie'' was founded in 1891 by Paul Vid ...

'', 428 (1969), pp. 472-473. While building an international reputation as a geographer, her career at the university of Leuven progressed very slowly, with appointment as full professor only in 1960, despite having been Director of the Geographical Institute for years. She was the first woman appointed to a professorship at the university. She died in Leuven on 27 December 1967.

Publications

La densité des maisons rurales en Belgique
''

'', 179 (1923), pp. 395-417.
Le congrès International de Géographie (1928)
''

Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...

'', 1 (1929), pp. 73-75.
La morphologie glaciaire de la Haute Tatra
''Revue de Géographie Alpine'', 17:4 (1929), pp. 747-755.
Excursion no 8: Amazonie
''Annales de Géographie'', 353 (1957), pp. 75-77.

References

1894 births 1967 deaths Academic staff of the Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) People from Steenokkerzeel {{Improve categories, date=April 2021 Geographers Columbia University people