Death of Myriam Ullens this week in Belgium. In 2007, Myriam and her husband Guy Ullens founded UCCA as the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, consolidating their years of support for contemporary art in China and making an invaluable contribution towards its continued development.
Although the Ullens transferred ownership of the institution to a new group of patrons and shareholders in 2017, they remained members of the UCCA community, serving on our Foundation Council and frequently joining us to celebrate UCCA programs in China and abroad.
“The vision and passion of Myriam Ullens-her love for art, belief in cultural exchange, and commitment to helping others- are at the core of UCCA’s history and values. We are shocked and saddened by her death, and will remember her strength, style, creativity, and generosity as we carry forward the work of the institution that she and Guy so generously founded and nurtured through its first decade,” notes UCCA Director Philip Tinari.
In addition to founding UCCA, Guy and Myriam also operated the Fondation Guy & Myriam Ullens and the Ullens School, a not-for-profit educational institution in Nepal. Myriam was a cancer survivor, and in 2004 she founded the Mimi Foundation to provide support for cancer patients. Combining her love of fashion and travel, she also ran her own clothing brand, Maison Ullens. Our thoughts are with her friends and family at this time.
Who was Myriam Ullens ?
Myriam Ullens, née Lechien, was born in Cologne, Germany. There, she spent her childhood until she was fifteen. His father was an officer for the Belgian army at that time. Myriam Lechien then moved to Belgium, where she joined a boarding school. She will first live in Namur, before joining Liège as part of her studies.
At the age of 24, she decided to create her own company which offers fresh salad deliveries. A few years later, in the Belgian capital, she will open “Sweetly”, a top-of-the-range pastry shop, on avenue Louise. The Baroness is described as an ambitious woman and an entrepreneur.
In 1999, Myriam Lechien and Baron Guy Ullens of Schooten Whettnall married. Her husband is a businessman, patron and collector of contemporary art, whose fortune is estimated at more than two billion euros. Following her marriage, she devoted herself entirely to charity, and sold her Brussels pastry shop. Baroness Myriam Ullens was also at the center of projects combining the world of art and education thanks to the Ullens School. In Nepal, she decides to open an orphanage and a shelter for children.
Committed to the fight against cancer
In 2003, she learned that she had breast cancer. She will fight the disease for several years, and will engage in the fight against cancer by testifying on several occasions, and by creating the Mimi Ullens Foundation, in 2006.
In 2009, Myriam Ullens created her own clothing brand sold around the world, “Maison Ullens”. In 2017, she published her first novel, “Distant Starless Nights”.
The Baroness is also said to have a friendly relationship with the Belgian royal family. She has often been spotted with members of royalty, especially during cultural visits. Sources even confide that King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, during a vacation in Switzerland, would have stayed in the chalet of the Ullens couple.
A question of inheritance would be the reason for the murder of Baroness Myriam Ullens. The alleged murderer, son of Guy Ullens of Schooten Whettnall, would blame his stepmother for hoarding her husband’s possessions, when he was suffering from a stroke at the time.
