The Academia Belgica is an academic organization. The goal of the Academy is to promote the cultural, scientific and artistic cooperation between Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

.

The organization was founded in 1939 when the Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 princess Marie-José

Marie-José of Belgium

Marie José of Belgium was the last Queen of Italy...

 married the Italian crown prince Umberto

Umberto II of Italy

Umberto II, occasionally anglicized as Humbert II was the last King of Italy for slightly over a month, from 9 May 1946 to 12 June 1946. He was nicknamed the King of May -Biography:...

. The Academy is also the seat of the Belgian Historical Institute in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 and of the foundation princess Marie-José, which supports historical research.

In 1947, Franz Cumont

Franz Cumont

Franz-Valéry-Marie Cumont was a Belgian archaeologist and historian, a philologist and student of epigraphy, who brought these often isolated specialties to bear on the syncretic mystery religions of Late Antiquity, notably Mithraism. Cumont was a graduate of the University of Ghent...

 donated his library to the Academia Belgica. Pierre Bautier and Henri Pirenne

Henri Pirenne

Henri Pirenne was a Belgian historian. A medievalist of Walloon descent, he wrote a multivolume history of Belgium in French and became a national hero....

, also donated collections to the academy.

Directors of the Academy

• Jules Vannerus (1939-1940)
• Fernand De Visscher (1945-1949)
• Fernand Vercauteren (1949-1954)
• William Lameere (1954-1959)
• Charles Verlinden (1959-1977)
• Jan Albert Van Houtte (1977-1983)
• Louis Godart
  Louis Godart
  Louis Godart is an Italian archaeologist of Belgian origins. He is a specialist in Mycenaean archaeology and philology and holds the chair of philology at the University of Naples Federico II...
  
   (1983-1988)
• Jozef Mertens (1988-1993)
• Jacqueline Hamesse (1993-2003)
• Walter Geerts (since 2003)

See also

• Science and technology in Belgium
  Science and technology in Belgium
  Science and technology in Belgium is well developed with the presence of several universities and research institutes. As Belgium is a federal state, science is organized at several levels...
  
  
• Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO)
• The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium
  The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium
  There are two Royal Academies for Science and the Arts in Belgium, corresponding to the two main languages of the country, Dutch and French . The Academies are located in the Palace of Academies in Brussels....
  
  
• National Fund for Scientific Research
• University Foundation
  University Foundation
  The Belgian University Foundation was founded in 1920. The goal of the Foundation, as was put forward by Emile Francqui, is to promote scientific activity at Belgian universities....
  
  
• Academia Europaea
  Academia Europaea
  Academia Europæa is a European non-governmental scientific academy founded in 1988. Its members are scientists and scholars who collectively aim to promote learning, education and research. It publishes European Review through Cambridge Journals....
  
  
• Royal Library of Belgium
  Royal Library of Belgium
  The Royal Library of Belgium is one of the most important cultural institutions in Belgium. The library has a history that goes back to the age of the Dukes of Burgundy...