Louise Leghait facts for kids

Louise Leghait (born September 9, 1821, died April 22, 1874) was a pioneering photographer from Belgium. She was active in the 1850s in cities like Brussels and Paris. Many consider her the very first Belgian woman to try photography as a hobby.

Early Life

Louise Félicité Julie Reynders was born in Brussels, Belgium, on September 9, 1821. Her father, Jean Paul Ferdinand Reynders, was a merchant.

In 1840, when she was eighteen, Louise married Gustave Nicolas François Leghait. He was a landowner. They got married in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode.

Louise and Gustave had three children together. Their son Alfred was born in 1841. He later became the Belgian Ambassador to France in 1903. They also had a daughter named Jenny (born 1843) and another son named Raoul (born 1845).

Photography Work

In the mid-1850s, Louise Leghait started working as a photographer in Brussels. She used the name Madame Leghait. She is known as Belgium's first female calotypist and amateur photographer. A calotypist used an early photography process that created paper negatives.

In 1856, Louise made history by becoming the first woman to join the Société française de photographie. This was a very important photography society in France.

Soon after, she won a medal at the Brussels Industrial Arts Exhibition. She received this award alongside famous male photographers. These included Constant Delessert, Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard, and Louis Adolphe Humbert de Molard.

The next year, Louise showed her photos at another exhibition. She displayed pictures of cities like Mechelen, Brussels, and Antwerp. The newspapers praised her work. They said she was "a woman and artist of first rank." They admired her technical skill. They also noted it was "all the more remarkable in a woman of the world who is guided only by her love of art." The press also mentioned her photos looked like fine English photographs. After this time, not many of her works are known.

Later Years

Louise Leghait faced sadness in her later life. Her youngest son, Raoul, died in 1871 when he was only twenty-five. Her husband, Gustave, passed away the following year.

Louise Leghait herself died two years later. She passed away on April 22, 1874, at her home in Paris.

Collections and Exhibitions

Some of Louise Leghait's original prints are kept by the Société française de photographie.

Her work has been shown in special art displays:

• November 1981 - February 1982: La Femme artiste: d'Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun à Rosa Bonheur, Mont-de-Marsan, musée Despiau-Wlérick, donjon Lacataye.
• October 4, 2015 - January 24, 2016: Qui a peur des femmes photographes? (Who's afraid of women photographers?). This exhibition was held in Paris at the musée d'Orsay and musée de l'Orangerie. Her works were borrowed from the Société française de photographie for this show.