Monika Triest | |
|---|---|
 First chair of women's studies at the University of Amsterdam, 1985 | |
| Born | Monika Maria Triest 1941 (age 83–84) Aalst, Belgium |
| Other names | Monika Abicht, Monika Maria Abicht, Monika Abicht-Triest |
| Occupation(s) | Academic, writer, civil rights activist |
| Years active | 1963–present |
Monika Triest (born 1941) is a Belgian academic, writer, and civil rights activist. After earning a degree in classical philology at Ghent University, she moved to Canada to teach at the University of New Brunswick in 1965. Three years later when she moved to Yellow Springs, Ohio to teach at Antioch College, Triest became involved in the civil rights and women's liberation movements in the United States. She participated in demonstrations against the Vietnam War and in favor of Roe v. Wade. While she was earning her PhD at the University of Cincinnati, she and Sylvia Tucker offered one of the first women's study courses at the university in 1971. After earning her PhD in 1976, Triest returned to Belgium and in 1985 became the first chair of the women's studies program at the University of Amsterdam, and first women's studies professor in the Netherlands. She continued to teach at various educational facilities until her retirement in 2008.