Place d’Armes becomes Place Lily Unden and Grand-Rue Rue Lise Rischard-Meyer. By the end of this month, some of the main arteries of the capital will change their name again. Why? To honor women.
Initiative
Place d’Armes becomes Place Lily Unden and Grand-Rue Rue Lise Rischard-Meyer. By the end of this month, some of the main arteries of the capital will change their name again. Why? To honor women.
The initiative is from the National Council of Women of Luxembourg (CNFL) and is repeated this year. The organization starts from the observation that, at national level, the number of streets with women’s names is much lower than the number of streets with men’s names. The idea is not to change the names forever, but to sensitize the political sphere and the general public and give visibility to women who deserve it in the public space, according to a note released by the capital’s municipality.
Thus, until the 31st of March, six streets and a square that are very popular will make reference to outstanding women in the fields of science, sports, arts, music and letters. They all have one thing in common: they have contributed to consolidating the place of women in Luxembourgish society, reads the same note.
Lily Unden (1908-1989), the woman who baptized the Place d’Armes until the 31st, for example, was a Luxembourgish artist who excelled in the fields of poetry and painting. She was one of the women involved in the Luxembourg resistance during the Nazi occupation. In 1942 she was arrested by the Gestapo and even deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, but survived.
Grand-Rue, the ‘shopping street’ in the heart of the city, is named after Lise Rischard-Meyer (1968-1940) who was a member of the British spy network.
Arteries that change names by the end of the month:
– Boulevard Roosevelt happens to be a Rue Dr. Marie-Paule Molitor-Peffer (1929 – 1999), gynecologist and one of the founders of Family Planning.
– Rue Aldringen happens to be a Rue Elsy Jacobs (1933 – 1998), pioneer in cycling, first cycling world champion in 1958.
– Post office street become a Rue Helen Buchholtz (1877 – 1953), musician, composer.
– Rue Chimay happens to be a Rue Joséphine Jacquemart-Jaans (1890 – 1988), gymnastics teacher, hardy.
– Parade happens to be a Place Lily Unden (1908 – 1989), teacher, painter, writer, resistance fighter.
– High Street happens to be a Rue Lise Rischard-Meyer (1868 – 1940), member of the British spy network.
– Herb Market Street happens to be a Avenue Liliane Thorn-Petit (1933 – 2008), journalist, co-founder of CNFL and Mulheres Libeiras.
Only 10% of streets named after celebrities honor women
According to the municipality, currently, among the 467 streets and squares in the city of Luxembourg that were named after personalities, only 50 have female names. The number is equivalent to only 10% of the total.
“For many years the capital has been striving to eliminate this disproportion, which is due to historical reasons”, according to the municipality.
Article: Diana Alves | Photo: Andres Lejona
