Born and raised in Antwerp, Paula Sémer was one of the first three announcers at the then NIR (now VRT). She may have been retired since 1990, but she remains one of the figureheads of the public broadcaster to this day.
This is not only due to her pioneering work during the start-up of both radio and television, but also to the type of programs she presented. Sémer brought TV and radio for and by women and did not shy away from subjects such as sexuality, emancipation and breast cancer. In the fifties and sixties this was far from obvious.
Women’s programs
In 1944 she graduated from the Urban Normal School in Antwerp. During the last months of the war she was a clerk at the rationing service in the Stadsfeestzaal in Antwerp. Subsequently, she was active for several months as a clerk at the National Work War Invalids.
Sémer started her broadcasting career in 1944 on the radio as a presenter and actress in radio plays. When the NIR started with the first Flemish television broadcasts on 31 October 1953, the announcer was next to Terry Van Ginderen and Nora Steyaert. She also played the female lead in the aired comedy “Three Dozen Red Roses” that night.
Together with Bob Davidse she worked on the ‘Tv Ohee Club’. For years she presented the women’s programs ‘Women’s Mirror’ (1954) and ‘Penelope’ (1955-1965), a program she also produced from 1958. In the program, a birth first appeared on television in 1964. The commotion around this would last for a year.
Other controversies that ‘Penelope’ caused were her conversations about sexuality from 1965. In 1970 she was the presenter and producer of ‘Look and cook’. Other programs were ‘Everyday’, ‘The happy family’ and ‘Watch people’.
breast cancer
In addition, Paula Sémer was also active in campaigns against cancer. In Flanders she took breast cancer out of the taboo sphere by speaking about it as an experience expert. In 1984 she also wrote the book ‘Living with breast cancer’ in collaboration with doctor Jaak Janssens.
In 1989 she was appointed production manager of the Science Service of the BRT. In 1990 she retired. She was also one of the founders of the Flemish Television Academy. On March 6, 2010, she received a star from that academy for her rich career.
She was married to Herman Cornelis-Niels from 1949 until his death in 1990. Together they had a son, Jan Paul Cornelis. After her career, Sémer also became active in politics for several years. From 1995 to 1999 she was a member of the Senate for the Socialist Party (SP).
In March 2012, Paula received an honorary doctorate from Ghent University (UGent) for her social commitment, her pioneering work for radio and television and her contribution to the popularization of science.
In March of this year, Sémer was still the figurehead of a campaign by the Flemish Council for the Elderly to make psychological problems a topic for discussion, even among a generation that is not used to it. In an interview with VRT radio she said: “Getting old is one goodbye. Every day someone drops out.”
Paula Semer passed away on June 1, 2021, she opted for euthanasia.
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