Ilona Dauw

Ilona Dauw, M.A.

Affiliated Researcher
Entanglements and Globalisation

About

Ilona Dauw studied history at the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium from 2017 to 2022, specialising in the mediation of historical events. Her master's thesis was entitled: »Emotions and professions in the East. Daily life in Polish diaries during the First World War«. In 2022, she began working on her doctorate on the topic of »The Spanish flu in Belgium and Poland« (funding: Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS)) as part of a cotutelle doctorate at the Université catholique de Louvain and the University of Leipzig. 

Ilona Dauw has been an affiliated researcher at the GWZO since mid-2023.

Work focus

  • The experiences of civilians under occupation in Belgium and the Polish lands during the First World War

  • Epidemics in Belgium and Poland during the First World War

Current research topic

This project takes a comparative look at the spread of Spanish flu in Belgium and Poland. On the one hand, the aim of this research is to understand how Spanish flu arrived and spread in the two territories under German rule, and to measure its course, extent, consequences; on the other, it studies how the epidemic was perceived, understood and fought.

read more