| Irène Kaufer | |
| Birth Date: | 1950 2, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Kraków, Poland |
| Death Place: | Brussels, Belgium |
| Nationality: | Belgian |
| Occupation: | Activist Trade unionist |
| Education: | Université libre de Bruxelles |
Irène Kaufer (26 February 1950 – 5 November 2022) was a Polish author, feminist and LGBTQ+ activist, and trade unionist.[1]
Kaufer was born in Kraków on 26 February 1950 to Jewish parents who had escaped the Holocaust. The family moved to Brussels in 1958.[2] [3] In 1968, she studied psychology at the Université libre de Bruxelles.[4] On 11 November 1972,[5] she took part in the journée des femmes in Brussels, which began her feminist activism.[6]
A member of the lesbian community, she commenced her activism with the group Biches Sauvages, which was later renamed Homo-L.[4] She took part in the foundation of a women's house on Rue du Méridien 79 in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode.[6]
After working for a cultural trade company for the majority of her career, Kaufer finished her career as a project manager at Garance, a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of gender-based violence and promotion of feminist self-defense.[7] She regularly contributed to the feminist magazine Axelle,[8] as well as occasionally to other publications.[9]
Irène Kaufer died in Brussels on 5 November 2022, at the age of 72.[10]