Marguerite Coppin

Marguerite Aimee Rosine Coppin (2 February 1867 – 1931) was born in Brussels and became woman Poet Laureate of Belgium and a noted feminist and pioneer in female emancipation and equal rights for women.^[1] She was compared with women's rights activists Amelia Bloomer and Emmeline Pankhurst.^[2]

The city of Bruges was scandalised when Coppin rode a bicycle down the streets of the city with her skirts clipped up to each ankle to function like trousers. The bicycle was recognized by 19th-century feminists and suffragists as a "freedom machine" for women contributing to Female emancipation. "A woman on a bicycle? Brazen!" said the shocked people of Bruges according to a 1937 news article. Like Amelia Bloomer, Coppin devised a convenient and comfortable trouser like garment for women to use for bicycle riding.^[2]

In 1914 with the outbreak of war Coppin fled to England where she worked as a French teacher^[3] until her death in 1931.^[2]

See also

• History of feminism
• Bicycle
• List of women's rights activists
• List of female poets
• Timeline of women's suffrage
• Timeline of women's rights (other than voting)
• Women's suffrage

Notes