Frans van Cauwelaert was a 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...

 Roman Catholic politician and lawyer.

Van Cauwelaert was born at Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek

Roosdaal

Roosdaal is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Borchtlombeek, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek, Pamel and Strijtem. It borders to four other municipalities:...

. He was a member of the Flemish movement

Flemish movement

The Flemish Movement is a popular term used to describe the political movement for emancipation and greater autonomy of the Belgian region of Flanders, for protection of the Dutch language, and for the over-all protection of Flemish culture and history....

, Professor of psychology at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...

 (Leuven

Leuven

Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...

), mayor of Antwerp, and co-founder of the journal De Standaard

De Standaard

De Standaard is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Corelio . Circulation was about 102.280 in 2007. It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and Flemish Party, and in opposition to the Socialist Flemish daily De Morgen...

.

He fought for using Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 at the University of Ghent, together with the Socialist Camille Huysmans

Camille Huysmans

Jean Joseph Camille Huysmans was a Belgian politician.Huymans studied German philology at the University of Liège. He was a teacher from 1893 until 1897...

 and the liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 Louis Franck

Louis Franck

This article is about Louis Franck the lawyer and not about Louis Franck the frontman of Esthetic Education.Louis Marie François Franck was a Belgian lawyer, liberal politician and statesman.-Education:...

. In 1911 they proposed a bill to the Belgian parliament, which originated from Lodewijk De Raet

Lodewijk De Raet

Lodewijk De Raet was a Flemish economist and politician. He played an important role in the Flemish movement. He was co-founder of the Vlaamsche volkspartij , and was a proponent of the use of Flemish instead of French at the University of Ghent in Flanders...

 for the usage of Dutch at the University of Ghent instead of French. From 1939 to 1954, he served as President of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, and lived in exile in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 during the German occupation. He died at Antwerp.

Source

• Th. Luykx and M. Platel, Politieke geschiedenis van België, 2 vol., Kluwer, 1985
• E. Witte, J. Craeybeckx en A. Meynen, Politieke geschiedenis van België, Standaard, 1997