Cities all over the world have been inspired by the #MeToo movement to rename streets after women to correct the imbalances that favored the greats rather than the greats in the past.
In Brussels, Madrid and Geneva, Belgian singer Anne Cody, Spanish Civil War hero Dolores Ibaruri and Jamaican writer Una Mason have not been recognized for a long time.
But in the Flemish village of Moorsele, people feel desperate. Although residents are enthusiastic about the five new street names-Marie Curiestraat, Augustina Peuteermanstraat, Heilige Theresiastraat, Koningin Fabiolastraat and Maria Rosseelsstraat-the sixth street name Marie Cornilliestraat sparked protests.
Cornillie is a landlord known as the “Ms. Moorsele Castle”, who lived there from 1793 to 1867. He may be rich, but the people in the village still remember it. They said that she is not a role model, but an arrogant figure who loves her dog more than the locals and has a tendency to urinate in the street. Her coachman had to clean up.
“This is really a shame,” said Lut Vanoverberghe and Lotair Vanoverbeke, the directors of the local history club.
Vanoverberghe wrote a 170-page book on Cornillie three years ago, and she said she was frustrated by the lack of care in parliament in choosing to respect landowners.
“She never meant anything to Moorsele,” she told Het Nieuwsblad. “If she does anything, it’s because she can spin the yarn by herself. She made a big gesture from her carriage to throw away the change, and then you hear the priest curse because there is a man standing in the front row picking up money, and then Drunk at the local bar.
“If she had to urinate somewhere on the road, she would only do it next to the carriage,” she added. “No, I’m not talking about her dog, I’m talking about Cornillie himself.”
As everyone knows, Connelly prefers her dog over her tenants, so much so that an enterprising thief has an idea, Vanoverbeke said. “Although the residents of Murselen had to fight for survival as a weaver, if her dog disappeared, she would provide a large sum of money. Before long, her dog was kidnapped to receive a reward. Cornillie prefers her dog to her villagers.”
City Councillor Kevin Defieuw from Wevelgem said that the decision of the Cultural Committee to pay tribute to Cornelius was unanimous. “Connelly certainly has her advantages: she donated the land where our school is located,” he said.
The History Club proposes that the council change the name of the new street to Sara Nieulantstraat, named after the first woman to lead the CistercianThe Gurdenburg monastery existed in the 13th and 14th centuries. The city government said the name is too difficult to pronounce.
