Augustine De Rothmaler (November 12, 1859 – November 28, 1942) was a Belgian

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. After attending the , she taught at ''Cours d'éducation B'' for thirty years before becoming the institution's director, assuring that school classes paid attention to social aspects, feminism, and pacifism. Her interests in literature included translating works by German and Danish writers into French.

Early life and education

Augustine De Rothmaler was born in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium on November 12, 1859. She was the daughter of Gustave De Rothmaler, head of the Population Department of Brussels. She attended the ''Cours d'éducation'', the girls' school founded and run by

Isabelle Gatti de Gamond Isabelle Laure Gatti de Gamond (28 July 1839 – 11 October 1905) was a Belgian educationalist, feminist, and politician. Life Isabelle Gatti was the second of four daughters born to Giovanni Gatti, an Italian artist, and feminist writer Zo� ...

. These ''Cours d'éducation'' were a breeding ground for future feminists, nicknamed the "Gatticiennes", who formed the network of the feminist movement after earning their diploma. She graduated from higher education in 1876. She taught for three months and then went to

Romanshorn Romanshorn is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Arbon (district), Arbon in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. History Romanshorn was probably settled in the 7th century, and is first menti ...

, Switzerland, where she completed courses at the Zollinkofer Institute in a year and obtained an additional diploma.. Her stay in Romanshorn also enabled De Rothmaler to improve her knowledge of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and to develop an interest in

Germanic languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoke ...

in general. Later, she also studied Danish.

Career

Education

At the beginning of 1878, she returned to Brussels and taught literature, French, and English at the ''Cours d'éducation B'' in rue du Marais (which became the Henriette Dachsbeck High School). She was a very popular teacher with her students. In 1897, De Rothmaler was appointed "regent first class" there. Ten years later, in 1907, she declined a proposal to join the new middle school in Brussels. On September 1, 1911, De Rothmaler succeeded Aline Héris as Director of ''Cours d'éducation B'', where she had been teaching for thirty years. Like Gatti, De Rothmaler strove to promote a social spirit among her students. She assured that more girls from poor neighborhoods around ''Cours d'éducation B'' were able to attend, in order to ensure a greater social mix with girls from the middle classes who were attending the school. Great attention was also paid in the school's classes to social aspects, feminism, and pacifism, which did not prevent it, during the German occupation, from encouraging a patriotic sense in its collaborators and students. In 1911, she joined the (Belgian Alliance for Peace through Education), recently founded by

Maria Rosseels Maria, Baroness Rosseels (23 October 1916 – 18 March 2005), also known with her pen name "E. M. Vervliet", was a Belgium, Belgian Catholic writer. Biography The first years of her life, she lived in the Goedendagstraat in Borgerhout. When Mar ...

and Claire Baüer, and later the (Belgian League for Education). After her retirement in 1919, De Rothmaler became an honorary member of the (Education League) and remained active at the .

Literature

Throughout her career, De Rothmaler maintained a great interest in literature in general and

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...

in particular. She frequented the circles of writers as well as artists and introduced the classical matinees organized at the

Royal Park Theatre The Royal Park Theatre (; ) is a theatre in central Brussels, Belgium. It is located at 3, Rue de la Loi, rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, on the edge of Brussels Park, facing the Belgian Federal Parliament, Belgian House of Parliament (Palace of the N ...

and at the

New University of Brussels The New University of Brussels () was a private university active in Brussels, Belgium, between 1894 and 1919. Its origins were in the Free University of Brussels (1834–1969), Free University of Brussels, a Liberalism in Belgium, liberal instit ...

. She also translated a certain number of works by German and Danish writers, notably

Johannes V. Jensen Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (; 20 January 1873 – 25 November 1950) was a Danish author, known as one of the great Danish writers of the first half of 20th century. He was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the rare strength and ferti ...

,"Librairie des Carrés - JENSEN, Johannes V., Histoires du Himmerland" www.librairiedescarres.com and wrote several publications on the

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

of the writer and feminist

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. Being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balz ...

, who was De Rothmaler's model.

Personal life

During her life, De Rothmaler formed a great friendship with the couple Théo and

Maria Van Rysselberghe Maria Van Rysselberghe (née Monnom; 1866–1959) was a Belgian writer, best remembered for her collection titled ''Cahiers de la petite dame'' which was published posthumously in four volumes in the ''Cahiers André Gide''. She was the wife of T ...

. The latter was one of De Rothmaler's former students and they shared a passion for French literature. In 1894, Théo Van Rysselberghe made a portrait of Augustine De Rothmaler, which is now in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. After retiring, De Rothmaler joined the van Rysselberghe couple in

Le Lavandou Le Lavandou (; ) is a seaside commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. Le Lavandou derives its name either from the flower lavender (''lavanda'' in Provençal) that is prevalent in the area ...

, France where they had been living since 1910. She died there on November 28, 1942, at the age of 83, and is buried in the van Rysselberghe family vault.

Selected works

* "Les prétendus portraits de George Sand", in ''Mercure de France'' (1924), p. 688-697 * "Les portraits de George Sand, in ''Gazette des Beaux-Arts'' (1926), p. 70-78

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Derothmaler, Augustine 1859 births 1942 deaths People from Brussels 19th-century Belgian educators 20th-century Belgian educators Belgian feminists Belgian women's rights activists Belgian translators Translators from Danish 19th-century Belgian women educators 20th-century Belgian women educators