Lily Unden

Léonie (Lily) Unden (26 February 1908 – 5 September 1989) was a Luxembourgish poet, painter and educator who was sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp for taking part in the Luxembourg Resistance during the Second World War. Thanks to her flower paintings, she is remembered as one of Luxembourg's most celebrated female painters.

Biography Born in Longwy, France, Lily Unden was the daughter of Emile Charles Unden, a Luxembourger, who was a civil engineer in a factory in Longwy-Bas. She returned to Luxembourg with her family just before the First World War, settling in the Muhlenbach quarter of Luxembourg City. After earning her baccalauréat from the École Saint-Joseph, she studied art in Brussels, Paris, Metz and Strasbourg.

She returned to Luxembourg after being liberated in 1945 and taught at the Lycée de jeunes filles or Girls' High School. In 1947 and 1948, she studied art at New York's Columbia University after which she headed art education at the Lycée de jeunes filles. In 1949, she taught French at the École professionnelle de l'État in Esch-sur-Alzette until she was engaged to teach at the Lycée Robert-Schuman (1966–1973).