Marie Janson

Marie Janson ( born July 23, 1873 in Brussels, † March 8, 1960 ibid ) was a Belgian politician and women's rights activist. She was the first female member of the Belgian Senate.

Life

Family

Marie Janson was the daughter of Paul Janson and Anna- Augustine Amoré. Her father was a leading member of the liberal- democratic movement in Belgium. He was the founder of the Fédération progressiste. Her brother Paul -Émile Janson was Prime Minister of Belgium.

Marie's mother, Anna- Augustine Amoré, was a well-educated middle class woman who worked as a teacher at Isabelle Gatti de Gamond 's school before she married. Marie was also educated at this school.

On July 22, 1894 Marie Janson married the lawyer and writer Paul Spaak. The couple had four children: the later Belgian Prime Minister and NATO Secretary-General Paul -Henri Spaak, Madeline Spaak, (* 1895), the screenwriter Charles Spaak and the playwright Claude Spaak, who was married to the resistance fighter Suzanne Spaak. The actresses Catherine Spaak and Agnès Spaak are her granddaughters. Her granddaughter Antoinette Spaak follows in their footsteps: she was the first Belgian woman boss of a political party.

Political work

During the First World War, Marie was active in social work. This meant that she was a member of the Belgian Socialist Party. She was elected in 1921 to the City Council of Saint-Gilles. In the same year she was chosen by the party leadership, headed by Émile Vandervelde for the Belgian Senate. She continued to act as a co-opted member of the Senate continued until 1958.