Lodewijk De Raet
Encyclopedia
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He played an important role in 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....
. He was co-founder of the Vlaamsche volkspartij (1892), and was a proponent of the use of Flemish instead of French at the University of Ghent in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
(north part of 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...
). He believed that the economic development of Flanders was necessary for the political and cultural strengthening of the region. His motto was: taalbelang is stoffelijk belang (English: language importance is of material importance).
Already as a teenager in highschool Lodewijk De Raet showed a commitment for the Flemish cause. Together with August Vermeylen
August Vermeylen
August Vermeylen was a Belgian writer and literature critic. In 1893 he founded the journal Van Nu en Straks . He studied history at the Université Libre de Bruxelles , and became a professor of literature and of art history at the ULB...
he started the illustrated magazine Jong Vlaanderen (E: Young Flanders) and he had been involved in the establishment of De Vlaamsche Wacht (E: Flemish guard), an organization of Flemings in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. In this organization Lodewijk De Raet developed his economic program for the development of Flanders. In the meantime he studied, thanks to the support of Emiel Blauwaert, a friend of its deceased father, at the École polytechnique of the Universite Libre de Bruxelles
Université Libre de Bruxelles
The Université libre de Bruxelles is a French-speaking university in Brussels, Belgium. It has 21,000 students, 29% of whom come from abroad, and an equally cosmopolitan staff.-Name:...
(ULB). Here he became a member of the student group Geen Taal Geen Vrijheid (E: no language no freedom), and he was a member of the Femish liberal (agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
) student organization.
As a student Lodewijk De Raet became convinced that economy and education had a strong link. In order to be able compete economically with other regions and to acquire a sufficiently strong position to be able preserve their economic independence, the Flemish people must have intellectual tools, such as a Flemish university. Together with its friends of Geen Taal Geen Vrijheid he created a Flemish University Extension. In 1899, he graduated in economic sciences
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
In the same period he had been involved in the establishment of the Flemish society Eendracht is Macht and the Flemish publication Schild en Vriend (E: shield and friend). Beside all this he became an employee of the ' Institut of sociology' of Ernest Solvay
Ernest Solvay
Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist.Born at Rebecq, he was prevented by acute pleurisy from going to university...
. In 1903, he started a campaign to introduce Flemish at the University of Ghent, which was accepted in 1906.
On 31 March 1911, the bill for the use of Flemish at the University of Ghent, was submitted to the Belgian parliament by Frans Van Cauwelaert
Frans Van Cauwelaert
Frans van Cauwelaert , was a Belgian Roman Catholic politician and lawyer.Van Cauwelaert was born at Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek...
, 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:...
and 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...
. In 1912 Lodewijk De Raet obtained a PhD in economic sciences at the Solvay Sociology Institute. Lodewijk De Raet died some months later and he would not witness the introduction of Flemish at the University of Ghent in 1930.
In 1952, the Foundation Lodewijk De Raet was founded, which is a foundation for education of adults.
Source
- Lodewijk De Raet (Dutch)
- Max Lamberty, Lodewijk De Raet. Een levensbeeld, publ. Heideland, 1961