Isabelle Gatti de Gamond's 184th Birthday

Today’s Doodle celebrates the 184th birthday of Belgian educator Isabelle Gatti de Gamond. She is widely considered one of the first feminists in Belgium, and founded the country’s first secondary school for women. 

Gatti de Gamond was born in Paris on this day in 1839. Her family moved to Brussels when she was five years old. After her mother passed away in 1854, de Gamond sought a job to help provide for her family. She worked as a private tutor for a Polish noble family, which inspired her to learn Ancient Greek, Latin, and philosophy. 

Upon returning to Brussels, Gatti de Gamond continued her education through government-funded courses and pondered how she could help more women attend school. She founded the journal L'Education de la Femme (Women's Education) to share her thoughts with the public. 

In 1864, Gatti de Gamond partnered with the city council to launch Cours d'Éducation pour jeunes filles—the first systematic courses for secondary female education. The initiative’s independence from the Roman Catholic Church was especially groundbreaking, making it Belgium’s first secular secondary education for girls. Although the press criticized her efforts, Gatti de Gamond’s school was a huge success and added advanced and pre-university sections in 1891. As a testament to how successful the school was, some of the students became the first women in Belgium to attend a university, work in parliament, and become a lawyer. 

Gatti de Gamond founded many other schools before she retired from her role as an educator in 1899. With hopes of gaining universal adult suffrage, she worked as an activist for the Belgian Labour Party — but eventually left politics when the Labour Party chose to only support men’s right to vote.

Gatti de Gamond’s school was renamed the Isabelle Gatti de Gamond Royal Atheneum and is still open today. She wrote the book on Belgium's female education system, and thanks to her efforts, women have and will continue to add pages to her legacy. 

Happy birthday, Isabelle Gatti de Gamond!