Paula Marckx

Paula Marckx (3 December 1925 – 29 June 2020) was a Belgian life model, journalist and pilot. She was also the plaintiff in Marckx v Belgium. In that landmark case, Belgium was convicted in 1979 of unequal treatment of extra-marital children in the law of ancestry and inheritance by the European Court of Human Rights.

Biography

Marckx was born in the Seefhoek, Antwerp in 1925. During World War II she worked as a painter's life model,^[1] and as a photographic model for the fashion house Natan in Brussels. After the war she was active as an entrepreneur and later as journalist. She became one of the first Belgian women pilots. Through these various activities, she met Francisco Franco, Willy Brandt, The Beatles, Paul Anka and Rita Hayworth.^[2]^[3]^[4]

In 1973, Marckx gave birth to a daughter, Alexandra Marckx, while she was not married. It turned out that she had no rights as a mother, and had to start a procedure of recognition. Even with recognition, her daughter would still be considered a stranger to the family.^[5] Extra-marital children did not have the same rights at that time as children born in a marriage. To obtain equal rights for her daughter, Marckx initiated proceedings against Belgium at the European Court of Human Rights for violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to respect for private and family life) and Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of discrimination). As a result of this judgment, both Belgium and other European countries were obliged to implement reforms in their legal systems.^[2]^[3]^[4]

In an interview, Marckx stated that she had had many lovers but never lived with a man for a single day of her life, and had never regretted that decision.^[6] Marckx died in Antwerp on 29 June 2020.^[2]^[3]^[4]