Nicole van Goethem (1941-2000) is a draughtswoman, cartoonist and animator. In 1987 she wins the first and only Belgian Oscar with her debut film Een Griekse Tragedie (A Greek Tragedy). van Goethem participates in several animated film productions in the seventies and eighties before making three short animated films: A Greek Tragedy (1985), Vol van Gratie (1987) and L.A.T. (released posthumously in 2002). She wins prizes with Een Griekse Tragedie (A Greek Tragedy, 1985) and makes a name for herself at home and abroad. She works on commission and provides socially critical but often humorous illustrations for numerous books, magazines and advertising campaigns. Nicole van Goethem has a preference for initiatives based on humanistic ideas and explores themes and issues such as human rights, the pension system and the role of women in society.

JEUGDWERK

Nicole van Goethem was born on May 31, 1941 and grew up in Antwerp. As a child she attended school in Les filles de Marie of the Paridaens sisters in Sint-Jozefstraat, a renowned French-speaking girls' school where "little Nicoleke" was very out of place. She said she herself was a naughty student who was often sent home. One of the sisters advised her mother to just let her sign. This advice was followed: In high school, van Goethem studied Decorative Arts at the Technical Institute Sint-Maria in Antwerp, where she came first in a drawing competition organized by the school. After high school she decided to study flute at the Conservatory of Antwerp and performed as a member of the baroque ensemble Consortium Antiquum. Around this period she also took evening courses at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp.

(Anthe Heyninck)