Free University of Brussels (1834–1969)

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This article is about the Free University of Brussels before its split in 1969. For the current Dutch-speaking university, see Vrije Universiteit Brussel. For the French-speaking university, see Université libre de Bruxelles.
The main building of the Solbosch campus of the Free University of Brussels, built in the 1920s. It now houses the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

The Free University of Brussels (

Ghent
.

The "Linguistic Wars" affected the Free University, which split along language lines in 1969 in the aftermath of

umbrella organisation
known as Brussels Free Universities.

History

Establishment of a university in Brussels

Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen, founder of the Free University of Brussels

The Free University of Brussels was founded as the Free University of Belgium (Université libre de Belgique) on 20 November 1834 in the aftermath of

Catholic University of Mechelen revived the initiative among those with anti-clerical ideas, especially freemasons, liberals, and other freethinkers. Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen and Auguste Baron led the fundraising for the new institution from April 1834. It was officially founded on 20 November 1834 in the former Palace of Charles of Lorraine in Brussels with the help of the liberal mayor Nicolas-Jean Rouppe. The date of its establishment is still commemorated annually, by students of its successor institutions, as a holiday called Saint-Verhaegen/Sint-Verhaegen (often shortened to St V) for Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen.[1]

The motivating principle behind the new institution was "free inquiry" (libre examen) which denoted freethinking ideas inherited from the

Catholic University of Leuven founded in 1835. Under the system of pillarisation, the Free University became one of the principle institutions in the Liberal "pillar". It was renamed the Université libre de Bruxelles ("Free University of Brussels") in 1842.[2]

After its establishment, the Free University faced difficult times, since it received no subsidies or grants from the government; yearly fundraising events and tuition fees provided the only financial means. Verhaegen, who became a professor and later head of the new university, gave it a mission statement which he summarised in a speech to King Leopold I: "the principle of free inquiry and academic freedom uninfluenced by any political or religious authority."[3] In 1858, the Catholic Church established the Saint-Louis Institute in the city, which subsequently expanded into a university in its own right.

Growth, internal tensions and move

The Free University, then housed in the Granvelle Palace, c. 1900

The Free University grew significantly over the following decades. In 1842, it moved to the

Alfred Solvay and Raoul Warocqué to open new faculties in the city. A disagreement over an invite from the rector Hector Denis to the anarchist geographer Élisée Reclus to speak at the university in 1893 led to some of the liberal and socialist faculty splitting away from the Free University to form the New University of Brussels (Université nouvelle de Bruxelles) in 1894. The institution failed to displace the Free University, however, and closed definitively in 1919.[4]

In

legal personality under the name Université libre de Bruxelles - Vrije Hogeschool te Brussel.[8]

The university's football team that won the bronze medal at the 1900 Olympic Games

The German occupation during World War I led to the suspension of classes for four years in 1914–1918. In the aftermath of the war, the Free University moved its principle activities to the Solbosch in the southern suburb of Ixelles and a purpose-built university campus was created, funded by the Belgian American Educational Foundation. The university was again closed by the German occupiers during World War II on 25 November 1941. Students from the university were involved in the Belgian Resistance, establishing Groupe G which focused on sabotage.

Splitting of the university

The Dutch-language Vrije Universiteit Brussel moved to a new campus as a result of the split

Until the early 20th century, courses at the Free University were taught exclusively in French, the language of the

Catholic University of Leuven split along linguistic lines
, becoming the first of several national institutions to do so.

On 1 October 1969, the French and Dutch entities of the Free University separated into two distinct sister universities. This splitting became official with the act of 28 May 1970, of the Belgian Parliament, by which the French-speaking Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) officially became two separate legal, administrative and scientific entities.[10][11]

Notable faculty

See also

References

  1. ^ "Pierre Théodore Verhaegen and St V". Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
  2. ^ "A University born of an idea". Université libre de Bruxelles. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
  3. ISBN 90-5487-140-7. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  4. ISBN 978-0-7190-8883-4
    .
  5. ^ Great Britain's first home Olympic football adventure by Jon Carter, ESPN, 26 Jun 2012
  6. ^ Before the World Cup: Who were football's earliest world champions? by Paul Brown on Medium Sports, 6 Jun 2018
  7. ^ Games of the II. Olympiad - Football Tournament by Søren Elbech and Karel Stokkermans on the RSSSF
  8. Belgian official journal
    . p. 4846. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
  9. ^ "About the University: Culture and History". Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
  10. ^ "Chambre des Représen tant" (PDF).
  11. ^ "Law of 28 May 1970, concerning the splitting of the universities in Brussels and Leuven" (in Dutch). Belgisch Staatsblad/Flemish Government. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
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