Léonie La Fontaine: The feminist archivist who helped build the Mundaneum

Who was Léonie La Fontaine?

LA FONTAINE, Léonie, Marie, Sophie, Joséphine, feminist, secular and pacifist activist, born in Brussels on 2 October 1857, died there on 26 January 1949.

Léonie La Fontaine was a Belgian activist in the feminist movement that emerged at the end of the 19th century when the effects of industrialisation changed the social and political reality of the Belgian state. This type of feminism developed during the debates on suffrage and how it should be extended in a Belgium marked by the rise of the bourgeoisie.

His mother, of Dutch origin, played a fundamental role, showing an interest in the cause of women. The family lived very comfortably on land rents and kept abreast of the debates in Belgian society.

Léonie’s intellectual training reflected her broad cultural background and knowledge of languages. She learned and progressed alongside her brother, who was studying law. Her knowledge and social network were enhanced by this close relationship.

Their commitment to feminism and pacifism united them, but their similarities ended there.

A new wave of Feminism in an industrialising Belgium

Léonie La Fontaine began her activism with the Ligue du droit des femmes, founded in 1892.

What did this feminist group express? Why did it appear? It refers to the ‘Marie Popelin affair’, which broke out in 1888. Access to the bar, even for a woman with a degree, was impossible and this situation reinforced inequality between men and women. Belgian society, in search of greater representation, denounced this sexual discrimination.

This egalitarian movement joined the protests of women’s associations around the world. Europe was stimulated by the dynamism of the American women’s movement. Concerns about women’s rights were the strongest. The status of women and their professional, economic and political situation were priorities. Members of the League, who were more progressive, came from university backgrounds or had no particular training, like Léonie La Fontaine. For this association, access to training for young girls needs to be widened, as does the information available on this subject.

Feminist advocacy in the public sphere

Léonie La Fontaine’s work at national level was characterised by her efforts to raise awareness and provide information. Charity, prostitution and women’s work were all subjects that brought her into the field. Articles in the League’s bulletin rounded out the association’s propaganda. Its international involvement was characterised by the same concerns, and it drew closer to the abolitionist movement fighting against prostitution.

Feminist action in Belgium reached an international dimension at the end of the 19th century, at the various Universal Exhibitions and International Women’s Congresses.

At the turn of the century, in 1897, international feminist debates were multiplying. The International Council of Women (ICW) stimulated the creation of national committees. Belgian associations were agreed to set up a national committee of Belgian women, which came into being in 1905. Léonie La Fontaine, sensitive to the issue of peace, took part in 1899 in the  Peace Conference. From then on, she joined pacifist women’s associations and the Union of Belgian Women for Peace. Several women’s and feminist associations joined the national committee,  which gave fresh impetus to their demands.

Knowledge as power: Building Feminist archives and global Networks

This political commitment to pacifism and feminism was complemented by a close collaboration with the Office International de Bibliographie (OIB). Paul Otlet, Léonie La Fontaine and Henri La Fontaine joined their forces to create the universal bibliographic directory devised in Brussels. This initiative dedicated to sharing knowledge is growing in the centre of Brussels. Its involvement goes beyond the drafting of bibliographic records. She commissioned a specialised bibliography on women, which was published before the end of the century. Henceforth, Léonie La Fontaine was an international figure, and she took part in international meetings of the Council of Women and its peace section. On the basis of this international dialogue and the network created around knowledge and information, an International Office for Women’s Documentation was set up, with Élise Soyer-Nyst as its delegate manager.

War and exile: A pacifist’s struggle in times of conflict

The death of Marie Popelin in 1913 propelled this loyal collaborator to the head of the CNFB for a few months, as the outbreak of the First World War interrupted the progress of feminism throughout Europe. Léonie left Belgium and took refuge in the house she had bought in Saint-Imier, Switzerland.  It wasn’t easy to be a pacifist in those days. On the spot, she worked with the Intelligence Bureau to help prisoners, family and refugees.

From political margins to organised resistance

At the end of the war, for her, as for her contemporaries, it was important to obtain suffrage with a view to peace and ‘the well-being of the country’.

At the age of sixty, Léonie completed her term as President and, at the first legislative elections in 1921, she and Marie Parent set up a party. The Parti général des femmes belges proposed to defend causes that were important to women: the fight against alcoholism, debauchery and prostitution, as well as the desire for peace and the protection of mothers and children. The list was not deemed admissible, but women’s political action was permanent, right up to the doors of Belgium’s parliamentary assemblies, even though Belgian women could not vote. 

During the 20s and 30s, the pacifist movement took over. The creation of the League of Nations raised hopes.

Leading the Interwar Pacifist Front

Henri La Fontaine, laureate of the nobel Peace Prize in 1913, was a member of the assembly, where he gave a highly committed speech. In 1924, she agreed to set up the Belgian section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. In the 1930s, she joined the Women’s World Committee Against War and Fascism alongside a young member of parliament, Isabelle Blume. She never failed to support refugees in Belgium, particularly for political reasons. Her involvement in political life was more discreet, but she did speak out on the ground, in particular for the reception of children orphaned by the Spanish war and for the organisation of a demonstration against anti-Semitic measures and the German government.

Twilight years and enduring legacy

The Second World War saw a decline in its activities. A number of associations sought her support, but she became less of an activist.

The post-war years ushered in a new period for women’s rights, with women gaining the right to vote in parliament in 1948. At the occasion of the elections of june 1949, Léonie La Fontaine had died a few weeks earlier. It is worth noting that, as soon as she entered public life, she took care to preserve her administrative documents and her personal library. This particular heritage thus covers a pivotal period for the women’s movement, from its structuring in 1892 to obtaining the right to vote on the threshold of the 1950s. Feminism, pacifism and bibliography are at the heart of an original archive, now preserved at the Mundaneum, which bears witness to intense activity in defence of women’s rights and representative democracy.