Marguerite Jeanne Queneau, 1903-

Marguerite Jeanne Queneau, a nutritionist and dietitian, was born December 5, 1903, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the eldest daughter and the second of six children of Augustin Lèon Jean and Abbie Jean (Blaisdell) Queneau. A French engineer, MJQ's father accepted a position in Liège, Belgium, and the family settled there in 1912. When the Germans invaded Belgium, ALJQ joined the French army; a few months later, MJQ, her mother, and five siblings escaped to England, where AJBQ joined the Red Cross and eventually became secretary and treasurer of the organization in northern England. During the war, MJQ attended Central Newcastle High School; for more information concerning the school, see Olive Carter, Girls' Public Day School Trust, History of Gateshead High School, 1876-1907, and Central Newcastle High School, 1895-1955 (printed by G.F. Laybourne, Newcastle upon Tyne, n.d.) in the Schlesinger Library. In 1919, MJQ moved to Minneapolis, where she earned a B.S. in home economics at the University of Minnesota in 1925. She served as a hospital dietetic intern at Minneapolis General Hospital in 1926, was nutritionist for the New York City Department of Welfare, 1934-1936, and public health nutritionist for the New York State Department of Health in Albany, 1936-1959. She received an M.A. in child development and parent education from Columbia University Teachers' College in 1941.

From 1943 to 1945, MJQ worked for the United States Army as a hospital dietitian in England; in 1950-1951, she was instructor in maternal and child nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health; and in 1953-1954 she taught at the Institut National d'Hygiène and at the Hôpital Bichat in Paris as a Fulbright Teaching Fellow.

MJQ retired to Boston in 1959, and since then has served in various positions in several nearby hospitals (including Peter Bent Brigham Hospital) and in the Health Department of the City of Newton. In 1962-1963 she was a Nutrition Officer for the Freedom from Hunger Campaign of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy.

MJQ is a member of several professional organizations, and has published articles in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association and state health department publications.