Simonne Lehouck-Gerbehaye

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Simonne Ghislaine Mathilde Lehouck-Gerbehaye (born August 5, 1899 in Senzeilles , † July 14, 1987 in Bouge ) was a Belgian entrepreneur , politician and resister .

Simonne Gerbehaye was the daughter of Félix Gerbehaye, a blacksmith who had successfully built the metal construction company Constructions Mécaniques Félix Gerbehaye in Senzeilles . During the First World War , the family fled to Le Havre, France . The family business was destroyed by the German occupiers and her brother Paul died as a soldier in 1917.

In 1921 Gerbehaye married the Flemish Julien Lehouck , who had participated in the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp as a track and field athlete . After Felix Gerbehaye's death, Lehouck took over management of the company and became mayor of Senzeilles. During the Second World War , the family supported the resistance and hid Jews who were fleeing the Germans. On February 11, 1944, the Gestapo arrested Lehouck for "espionage and support for the Allies". Two weeks later he was executed by hanging . Simonne Lehouck and their son Paul were also arrested the day before his execution. Paul Lehouck, named after his uncle who died in World War I, died in Bautzen . On April 24, 1945, Simonne Lehouck-Gerbehaye was freed by employees of the Swedish Red Cross. She weighed only 35 kilograms and was told that she had only six months to live because of the loss of a lung.

Senzeilles Castle

On June 29, 1945 Simonne Lehouck-Gerbehaye was back in Senzeilles and took over the management of the family business herself. In October 1946 she successfully ran for election as mayor of Senzeilles (2014: around 750 inhabitants), became one of the few female mayors in Belgium and remained so until 1976, when the town was merged with Cerfontaine. In 1950 she became the first female senator in Belgium for the PSC party in the constituency of Namur - Philippeville . She held this office until 1961, was involved in the Senate Commission for the Reconstruction of Belgium and was a member of the parliamentary delegation to the United Nations in New York . She also campaigned for a statute for political prisoners to be drawn up.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Simone Lehouck, femme d'affaires et de politique. l'avenir.net, February 19, 2013, accessed August 30, 2014 (French).
  2. ^ Simone Lehouck, femme d'affaires et de politique. l'avenir.net, February 19, 2013, accessed August 30, 2014 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Lehouck-Gerbehaye, Simonne
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lehouck-Gerbehaye, Simonne Ghislaine Mathilde (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian entrepreneur, politician and resistance activist
DATE OF BIRTH August 5, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Senzeilles
DATE OF DEATH July 14, 1987
Place of death Bouge