2 Euro BU

International Women's Day (Internationaler Frauentag) emerged from the socialist women's movement and the struggles for political and social equality. At an international women's conference in Copenhagen, Clara Zetkin proposed an annual day of action in 1910. The first corresponding events took place in 1911, among other places, in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Denmark and Switzerland. The demands at the time included women's suffrage, access to public offices and education, as well as better working conditions. March 8 only became established as a fixed date later. The United Nations (Vereinten Nationen) also adopted this day starting with International Women's Year (Internationales Jahr der Frau) in 1975.

Isala Van Diest studied medicine in Bern because this educational path was initially closed to her in Belgium. After her return, she had to fulfil additional requirements before she was admitted as a physician. She worked in Brussels and treated, among others, women who had only limited access to medical care because of their social circumstances. At the same time, she was active in the Belgian women's rights movement.

Marie Popelin received her doctorate in law from the Université libre de Bruxelles in 1888. However, her application for admission to the bar was rejected. The courts upheld this decision, basing it on the social and legal position of women at the time. The case that became known as the Popelin Affair (Affäre Popelin) made it clear that completing a degree did not yet give women equal access to the professions. Popelin subsequently became one of the driving forces behind the founding of the Belgian League for Women's Rights (belgischen Liga für Frauenrechte). It was only after her death that women in Belgium gained access to the legal profession.

The connection between the two biographies and the anniversary thus points to concrete obstacles against which the early women's movement campaigned: exclusion from higher education, regulated professions and public participation. At the same time, the choice of subject recalls that political rights and professional equality in Belgium were achieved gradually and at different times.