Louise van den Plas

Louise van den Plas (24 January 1877 – 4 December 1968) was a Belgian suffragist and the founder of the first Christian feminist movement in Belgium.

Biography Louise van den Plas was born in Brussels, Belgium, on 24 January 1877. She discovered feminism by reading Le grand Catéchisme de la femme, by Louis Frank, and the writings of Marie de Villermont (1848–1925), countess of Hennequin.

In March 1899 in Brussels, she met Marie Duclos,, the co-founder, with Marie Maugeret, of the French Catholic feminist association "Christian Feminism". Van den Plas went to Paris to study this movement and then, on the advice of Duclos, she made contact in Brussels with Belgian journalist Rene Henry and a friend of the latter, , a member of the Chamber. The latter were all the more interested in the situation of women as Belgium was moving towards universal suffrage and the enlargement of the electorate could benefit the socialists. The latter intended to vote in favor of women's suffrage, but there were fears associated with that.

In May 1902, feminist groups with varied political views created a Feminist Union to weigh in favor of women's suffrage. Van den Plas took this opportunity to represent the Catholic group. "Le Féminisme chrétien de Belgique" (Belgian Christian Feminism) was founded on 6 May 1902. It aimed to improve women's rights and promote feminism among Catholics while respecting the Catholic constitution of the family. As of 1905, it issued a monthly organ, Christian Feminism of Belgium, which provided for material aid to women. At the end of the war, the magazine reappeared and Van den Plas was offered a free platform in the daily Le Soir from 1921 to 1940. She died in Willaupuis, Belgium, on 4 December 1968, aged 91.

Works Féminisme, 1899 Pourquoi les chrétiens doivent être féministes, 1904 Le Féminisme chrétien de Belgique, 1905-1940 Revision du code civil la séparation de biens avec communauté d'acquêts substituée al communauté légale comme Droit commun en l'absence de Contrat de mariage, 1908 Etude sur la revision du titre du contrat de mariage, 1909 L'éducatioin ménagère, 1909 Een katholieke vrouw over het vrouwenkiesrecht, 1911 Le suffrage féminin : Discours prononcé à l'Assemblée générale du Féminisme Chrétien de Belgique : Suppl. au Féminisme Chrétien, mars 1912 , 1912 Féminisme et catholicisme, 1912 Le suffrage des femmes : discours prononcé au Congrès de la Ligue démocratique, à Courtrai, le 25 septembre 1911, 1913 Le féminisme chrétien, 1913 L'union pratriotique des femmes belges, 1915 Féminisme maternel, 1920 Quelques souvenirs de vingt ans d'efforts, 1922 Le féminisme chrètien (Second Edition), 1925 Ou en est le féminisme en Belgique?, 1931 La lutte contre l'alcoolisme ses ravages en Belgique spécialement du point de vue familial, des moyens en le vaincre, 1944 Rapport d'activité présenté à l'Assemblée générale, 1952 Une grave responsabilité des élites, 1953