Alberik Goethals

Alberik Goethals was the son of the textile manufacturer Vincent-Bruno Goethals and Eugénie Danneel. Together with a business partner he purchased a cotton mill in 1866. Linière de Courtrai became one of the most important textile companies in Kortrijk. In 1886 he married Clara Van Volsem and they had seven children. In 1870 he established the patronage of the Katrientjes. Gezelle was the spiritual president of the patronage between 1875 and 1899 and wrote numerous poems for the Katrientjes and their mentors. Alberik Goethals was also an amateur-photographer.