Nicole van Goethem was born on May 31, 1941 and grew up in Antwerp. As a child she attended school in Les filles de Marie of the Paridaens sisters in Sint-Jozefstraat, a renowned French-speaking girls' school where "little Nicoleke" was very out of place. She said she herself was a naughty student who was often sent home. One of the sisters advised her mother to just let her sign. This advice was followed: In high school, van Goethem studied Decorative Arts at the Technical Institute Sint-Maria in Antwerp, where she came first in a drawing competition organized by the school. After high school she decided to study flute at the Conservatory of Antwerp and performed as a member of the baroque ensemble Consortium Antiquum. Around this period she also took evening courses at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp.

(Anthe Heyninck)