[1] Her mother was Constance Marchet and her father Gustave Massin, a cigar merchant that moved his family to Brussels in 1877.

[2] She had a younger sister, Juliette (1866–1919), who married the Belgian painter William Degouve de Nuncques in 1894.

[2] During this period, most of her work focuses on city views, figures of peasant women and workers she met during her summer stays in Borchtlombeek or Bornem.

[2] Émile Verhaeren died on 27 November 1916 at Rouen station from an unfortunate fall under a moving train while trying to board it.

[4] It is with the insistence of Marthe that the body of Verhaeren could rest in Sint-Amands on the banks of the river Scheldt, the poet's birthplace.

[6] The Cabinet Émile Verhaeren, with its original furniture, is now in display at the Royal Library of Belgium.

Directly opposite Verhaeren's mausoleum along the Scheldt river, protected by a dike, is the Marthe Massin Garden.

Massin was laid to rest in Emile Verhaeren's mausoleum in 1955 during the celebration of his 100th birthday and the statue was dedicated to the two lovers.