Nationality Belgian Occupation Egyptologist | Name Marcelle Werbrouck Died August 1, 1959 | |
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Born 23 May 1889 ( 1889-05-23 ) Known for Soroptimist International Alma mater Sorbonne, College de France, Ecole du Louvre | ||
Marcelle Werbrouck (23 May 1889 – 1 August 1959) was the first Belgian Egyptologist.
Career
Daughter of the Belgian general Werbrouck, Marcelle Werbrouck was born in Antwerp on 23 May 1889. She followed courses at the Sorbonne, at the College of France, at the Ecole du Louvre, with teachers like Georges Aaron Bénédite and Gaston Maspero, and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes. During her studies, she became interested in ancient civilizations. She specialized in ancient Egypt after meeting with Belgian Egyptologist Jean Capart. After graduating from the École du Louvre, she earned her PhD at the Institut Royal d'Histoire de l'Art et d’Archéologie de Bruxelles where she taught for several years. Marcelle Werbrouck was decorated with the médaille de reconnaissance de la Croix-Rouge française after World War I.
Werbrouck worked closely with Capart and contributed directly to the development of Egyptology in Belgium. She took part in Capart's works on Thebes, Memphis and the toumb of Tutankhamun. Her subjects of research were often related the study of prominent goddesses and women of ancient Egypt. She became the first president of the second Belgian club of Soroptimist International, a worldwide volunteer service organization for business and professional women in December 1938.
Her first important work was dedicated to the kites, professional mourners (always women) who were paid to lament loudly throughout the burial proceedings. She became later interested in Pharaonic architecture during her study of the temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahri.
Werbouck took part in many missions to the archaeological site of El-Kab in 1936-1937 and 1937-1938, during which she contributed largely to the study of Egyptian divinities and more particularly the goddess Nekhbet.
At the death of Capart in 1947, she succeeded him as head of the Egyptian Antiquities section of the Royal Museums of Art and History from 1925 to 1954 and as head of the Queen Elizabeth Egyptological Foundation, which she helped to establish. She was appointed secretary at its creation and became deputy director in 1933 before replacing Capart in 1947.
After World War II, she had to reduce gradually her teachings because of growing fatigue. She died unexpectedly in Issoire, Auvergne, France on 1 August 1959.