Merete Gerlach-Nielsen

Merete Gerlach-Nielsen (1933–2019) was a Danish-born French-language academic, UNESCO's coordinating director for women's affairs (1988–1990), and one of the founders of Kvinfo, the Danish Centre for Research on Women and Gender. In 1997, she acquired French nationality.

Biography Born on 16 August 1933 in Copenhagen, 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 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. 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 in 1998.