Maria Gabriella Baers (20 September 1883 – 30 December 1959) was a Belgian senator, feminist, and trade unionist. Baers was the founder of Nationaal Verbond der Christelijke Vrouwengilden (''National Union of Christian Women's Guilds''. nowadays: ).
In 1936, Baers and were the first women senators in Belgium.
In 1945, she became the first women Secretary of the Senate, and the first chairwomen of a parliamentary commission.
Biography
Baers was born on 20 September 1883 in Antwerp. She went to high school at the Sœurs of Notre-Dame and was therefore fluent in both
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
and
French. She studied social sciences at the
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemb ...
.
In 1908, Baers joined the local women union in Antwerp for lace workers and
glove makers. In 1912, Baers and founded the Algemeen Secretariaat der Christelijke Vrouwenvakverenigingen (''General Secretary of Christian Women Unions''). Baers moved to
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, and in 1920 founded the Nationaal Verbond der Christelijke Vrouwengilden (''National Union of Christian Women's Guilds''), an emancipated movement for working-class women which is nowadays called . Baers would head the organisation until 1951.
In 1936, Baers was elected to the
Belgian Senate
The Senate ( nl, Senaat, ; french: Sénat, ; german: Senat) is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parli ...
and remain a senator until 1954.
Baers and were the first women senators in Belgium.
Baers would remain senator during
World War II
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 opposing ...
. She wanted to prevent
forced labour of Belgian women in Germany. Together with J. Vervaeck of the Ministry of Labour, they managed to stop deportation of women under the age of 24, however Baers continued to increase pressure. On 22 March 1943, all deportations of women ended.
In 1945, Baers became the first women Secretary of the Senate, and became Chairperson of the Parliamentary Commission on Health.
On 30 December 1959, Baers died in Brussels at the age of 76.
In 1998, the
auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...
of the
Flemish Community was named after Maria Baers.
References
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baers, Maria
1883 births
1959 deaths
Women members of the Senate (Belgium)
Christian Social Party (Belgium, defunct) politicians
Belgian feminists
Politicians from Antwerp
Belgian trade unionists
University of Freiburg alumni