Marie-Thérèse Bourquin (7 March 1916 – 5 December 2018) was a Belgian lawyer and the first female member of the
Belgian Council of State.
Life
Marie-Thérèse Bourquin was born in
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...
, France, on 7 March 1916. During the
First World War her family, from
Tournai
Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...
, were refugees in France, where her father, Maurice Bourquin, worked for the Belgian government-in-exile. He had earlier been legal counsel to
Minister of State Paul Hymans.
Marie-Thérèse obtained the degree of Doctor of Law at the
Université Libre de Bruxelles in 1939, and in 1942 she did her traineeship in the law office of the Brussels barrister René Marcq. In 1947 she entered the civil service at the Ministry of Communications, only to leave the next year to join the Council of State, of which she was the only female member until 1963. In 1971 she was appointed auditor of the Council of State, and in 1972 first auditor. She retired on 7 March 1986.
At the time of her
hundredth birthday, 7 March 2016, she was living in a rest home.
Bourquin died in December 2018 at the age of 102.
Marie-Thérèse Bourquin
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourquin, Marie
1916 births
2018 deaths
20th-century Belgian lawyers
Belgian centenarians
Belgian women lawyers
Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni
Women centenarians
20th-century women lawyers