Merete Gerlach-Nielsen (1933–2019) was a Danish-born French-language academic,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

's coordinating director for women's affairs (1988–1990), and one of the founders of

Kvinfo The Danish Center for Research on Women and Gender (KVINFO) is a Danish information center about women's issues. It primarily aims to provide the general public with information about the results of women's studies and gender research underta ...

, the Danish Centre for Research on Women and Gender. In 1997, she acquired French nationality.

Biography

Born on 16 August 1933 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Merete Gerlach-Nielsen was the daughter of Carl Gerlach-Nielsen (1901–1991) and Louise Fanøe (1908–1987). She was raised as an only child in an internationally oriented home in which her father was attached to the

Alliance Française (; "French Alliance", stylised as ''af'') is an international organization that aims to promote the French language and francophone culture around the world. Created in Paris on 21 July 1883 under the name ''Alliance française pour la propa ...

while her mother was an officer in the Home Guard. As a child, Gerlach-Nielsen was influenced by her godmother Margrethe Spies who introduced her to the theatre and to literature and shared her concern for gender equality and women's affairs. Gerlach-Nielsen attended Copenhagen's French School and matriculated from Christianshavns Gymnasium in 1951. She went on to graduate as Cand.mag. in French and Danish at

Copenhagen University The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. The University of Copenhagen c ...

in 1960. In parallel, she increased her interest in the Alliance Française, becoming secretary in 1957 and chair in 1978 for a successful two-year period. While at university, she headed the French student association Le Coq, for which she was rewarded with the Alliance's bronze medal in 1983. In the mid-1980s, she was one of the most active women behind the founding of the Danish Centre for Research on Women and Gender (Kvinfo), becoming chair of the management board for 1987–1988. In 1988, she became one of the highly placed women in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

organizations when she was selected among 800 candidates to be the coordinating director for women's affairs at the Paris-based UNESCO headquarters. In 1990, she retired from the post, choosing to work freelance in Paris. On 26 December 1997, she acquired French nationality. Merete Gerlach-Nielsen died in Paris on 14 June 2019.

Publications

Gerlach-Nielsen's publications include: *1965: Stendhal, théoricien et romancier de l'amour, Munksgaard (in French) *1968: Romanproblemer. Teorier og analyser. Festskrift til Hans Sørensen den 28. september 1968, Odense Universitetsforlag (in Danish) *1977: Romanteori og romananalyse, Odense Universitetsforlag (in Danish) *1980: New trends in the Danish women's movement, 1970-1978, Emmeline Press *1985: L'Alliance française de Copenhague a cent ans 1884-1984 (in French)

Awards

In addition to numerous scholarships, Gerlach-Nielsen was decorated with the

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

in 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerlach-Nielsen, Merete 1933 births 2019 deaths People from Copenhagen UNESCO officials Naturalized citizens of France Danish emigrants to France Recipients of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Danish academics Danish women academics Danish women activists University of Copenhagen alumni