Antoinette Spaak

Antoinette Spaak (; 27 June 192828 August 2020) was a Belgian politician and leading figure within Francophone and regionalist politics in Brussels. She was born into a noted political family and entered politics as part of the regionalist Democratic Front of Francophones (, FDF) in 1972. She held the presidency of the FDF from 1977 to 1982 and later advocated conciliation between Francophone centrist political parties. This brought the FDF into an electoral coalition ahead of the 1999 election and paved the way for its absorption into the Reformist Movement (, MR) in 2002. Spaak held various political offices in Belgium and the European Communities until retiring from politics in 2009.

Early life Spaak was born in the Brussels suburb of Etterbeek in Belgium on 27 June 1928 into a noted political dynasty affiliated with liberal and socialist parties. Her father was Paul-Henri Spaak, a socialist politician and statesman who served several terms as prime minister and who played a notable role in the early years of the European Economic Community (EEC) as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). She was also the granddaughter of Marie Janson, the first female member of the Belgian Senate, and the grand-niece of Paul-Émile Janson, a liberal politician who would also serve as prime minister. Paul Janson, an influential liberal politician, was her great-grandfather.

Death Spaak died at her home in Brussels, Belgium, on 28 August 2020, aged 92. Sophie Wilmès, the incumbent prime minister and MR member, described Spaak on Twitter as a "grande dame". L'Echo said in its obituary that Spaak had "epitomised a certain idea of feminism, of francophone struggle, and European engagement" during her political career but noted that she had never held a ministerial portfolio.

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