Ade Bethune's Centennial

Marie Adélaïde de Bethune (who became known as Ade Bethune) was born one hundred years ago today--on January 12, 1914.  Throughout 2014 the Archives and Special Collections will be featuring information about Bethune's life and work, including items from the Ade Bethune Collection.  The year will finish with an exhibition of Ade Bethune's work in the Catherine G. Murphy Gallery from September until December.

Ade Bethune, age 3, with her grandfather
Georges, viscount Terlinden

Ade Bethune was born in the Schaerbeek area of Brussels, Belgium. She was the 4th of five children. Six months later World War I broke out and Ade's father, Gaston de Bethune, left to fight with the Belgian army.  Ade did not know her father for the first few years of her life.

While Ade's father was away her mother, Marthe, took the family to live with her father, Georges Terlinden, who was a viscount and attorney general at Belgium's Supreme Court.  During the war both Marthe de Bethune and Ade's older brother, Pierre, distributed copies of the underground newspaper to the members of the resistance. Ade's mother was imprisoned for this and held for a month before being released.

More about Ade Bethune and the Ade Bethune Collection