Admittedly, it is a disjointed list that lacks a coherent connection. How is it that: a former nun, a best- selling novelist, the iconic “little black dress,” a canal house in Bruges, and an Academy Award winning movie, could be woven together to form a Belgian specific sequence? Unlikely you say? Consider…
Marie Louise Habets was a former Belgian nun turned nurse. Born (1905) in Egem, West Flanders, she took the name Sister Xaverine after her admission to the Molenaarstraat Convent in Ghent. She did mission work in the Belgian Congo for six years before contracting tuberculosis which necessitated her return to Belgium. Her timing was most unfortunate as it coincided with the German invasion in May of 1940. Sister Xaverine’s father was killed during to the war, her brother was imprisoned, and she witnessed firsthand the massive German bombing of Antwerp (10,000 casualties). She would say later that she “lost her faith for forgiveness” in that “it was fueled by hate.” Sister Xaverine subsequently applied for a dispensation from her religious vows— a very rare request in her day. Known again as Marie Louise Habets, she joined the Belgian Resistance where she nursed her fellow Belgians who had been wounded or imprisoned in German concentration camps. While in service she met an American expatriate writer named Kathryn Hulme who was working as an official for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. Hulme was intrigued by her fellow coworker’s diligence but also her “taciturn, solitary, preoccupied —almost asocial demeanor.” This, gleaned Hulme, was a woman who seemed “ burdened and depressed by a deep sense of failure.” Marie Louise Habets, aka Sister Xaverine, was a woman with a secret. Over time the former nun revealed her tragic personal history to the American writer.
After the war they, as a couple (later a lifelong couple), moved to the United States. They took up residence in California where Habets continued as a nurse while Hulme continued to write. In 1956 Hulme’s novel The Nun’s Story was published and became #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List. The novel was a faithful adaptation of her partner’s life in The Congo and in Belgium. By 1959 Hollywood bought the rights to the novel and produced a film adaptation by the same name. The Nun’s Story was a box-office success — nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Cinematography (more about that later).
Starring in the movie and nominated for Best Actress was Brussels-born Audrey Hepburn. Synonymous as the “Woman in The Little Black Dress”, Hepburn was no stranger to Belgian life. Born in Ixelles (1929) to a British father and Dutch mother, Audrey was profoundly affected by World War II. She not only witnessed many traumatic events but experienced famine and near starvation during The Dutch Famine of 1944-5. Young Audrey was malnourished with her family resorting to making flour from tulip bulbs to bake biscuits. As a result of this malnutrition, her very slim, waif-like physical build took on a distinctive look that would change the world of fashion and style. The “Audrey Hepburn look” was seen as an alternative to the more sexual and curvier look of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. Her wearing That Little Black Dress in her role in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s , was seen as the “new alternative feminine ideal ‘’ that made being slim fashionable.
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is awarded each year to the production that recognizes outstanding achievement in the art of motion-picture photography. Nominated for his work in the production of The Nun Story was cinematographer Franz Planer. He originally intended to film only the African scenes in color with the Belgian scenes in stark black and white. Unique in his attempt at balancing colors and black and white scenes, Planer’s work reflected this concept. The Belgian exteriors were shot on location in Bruges on the Sint Annarel Canal. The major backdrop of the film was a splendid Rococo home of the de Meulemeester family. Host Andre de Muelemeester was the son and grandson of a long line of distinguished Bruges brewers and politicians. Perhaps more notable, Andre was a Belgian hero as one of the most prolific “flying aces” of World War I with 511 combat sorties and many aerial victories. He married Cecile Graux, the daughter of Belgium’s Minister of Finance and later Minister of State. So grand was their home that the couple entertained a social circle that included Belgium’s most prestigious social circle. The de Meulemeester family’s splendid home hosted many famous guests of honor, including Queen Elizabeth of the Netherlands, many Belgian Prime ministers, papal representatives, and bank presidents.
In what can only be described as an ironic “a small world story” the life paths of Habets, Hulme, and Hepburn would coincide once again. While filming the 1960 film The Unforgiven, Audrey Hepburn was thrown from a horse —breaking her back with a life-threatening injury. Ambulanced back to Hollywood for surgery she later required in-home rehabilitation. And who by total coincidence should become her in-home nurse? None other than Marie Louise Habets ! The three would spend considerable time together calling their friendship “The 3-H Club.”
Living in the globalized world today it might be hard to phantom that we are far more closely connected in ways we might expect. Social media networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram understand the idea of “six degrees of separation. Using algorithms, they can connect the dots between friends, social networking and like -minded communities. We may indeed be closer than we think and small world stories are not beyond the realm of possibilities. The relationship between a Belgian former nun, a best-selling novelist,a Brussels-born actress, an iconic Bruges movie set, and a chance 3-h Club encounter is Belgian-specific proof positive!
