Events in the year 1961 in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

: Baudouin *

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Gaston Eyskens Gaston François Marie, viscount Eyskens (1 April 1905 – 3 January 1988) was a Christian democratic politician and prime minister of Belgium. He was also an economist and member of the Belgian Christian Social Party (CVP-PSC). He served t ...

(until 25 April), Théo Lefèvre (starting 25 April)

Events

* 15 February –

Sabena Flight 548 Sabena Flight 548 was a Boeing 707-329 flight operated by Sabena that crashed en route from New York City to Brussels, Belgium, on February 15, 1961. The flight, which had originated at Idlewild International Airport, crashed on approach to Bru ...

* 26 March –

Belgian general election, 1961 General elections were held in Belgium on 26 March 1961. The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 96 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 47 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 92.3%.No ...

Births

* 14 March – Christ'l Smet, windsurfer * 23 April – Patrick De Koning, archer * 25 April –

Frank De Winne Frank, Viscount De Winne (born 25 April 1961, in Ledeberg, Belgium) is a Belgian Air Component officer and an ESA astronaut. He is Belgium's second person in space (after Dirk Frimout). He was the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission whe ...

, astronaut * 13 May –

Marc De Mesmaeker Marc De Mesmaeker (born 13 May 1961) is a senior Belgian police officer. Since 15 June 2018 he has been General Commissioner of the Federal Police (Belgium), Federal Police, becoming the fifth person to hold the post and the first to take it after a ...

, police officer * 22 May – Elke Tindemans, politician * 29 June –

Wim Claes Wim Claes (29 June 1961 – 24 February 2018) was a Belgian composer, arranger and music producer. As a songwriter, he was best known for " Like The Wind", Belgium's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999, sung by Vanessa Chinitor. He was a ...

, composer (died 2018) * 12 July – Diederik Foubert, cyclist * 16 July – Willem Wijnant, cyclist * 28 July –

Gerda Sierens Gerda Sierens (born 28 July 1961) is a former Belgian racing cyclist Cycle sport is Competition, competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, m ...

, cyclist * 6 August – Rudy Patry, cyclist * 14 August – Peter Joos, Olympic fencer * 11 September –

Sophie de Schaepdrijver Sophie, Baroness De Schaepdrijver (b. Kortrijk, 11 September 1961) is a Belgian historian. Education She graduated in history at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Brussels, Belgium) and obtained a PhD with a dissertation on ''Elites for the Capita ...

, historian * 14 September – Karl Meersman, cartoonist * 18 September – Danny Lippens, cyclist * 10 November –

Bruno Tuybens Bruno Tuybens (born 10 November 1961) is a Belgian politician and member of the sp.a

, politician * 22 November – Myriam Vanlerberghe, politician * 30 December –

Bernard Clerfayt Bernard Clerfayt (born 30 December 1961, in Uccle) is a Belgians, Belgian politician. He has been the mayor of Schaerbeek since 2001 and is currently vice-president of the Democratic Front of Francophones, Front Démocratique des Francophones (FDF ...

, politician

Deaths

* 17 May –

Frans Van Cauwelaert Frans Van Cauwelaert (10 January 1880 – 17 May 1961), was a Belgian Roman Catholic politician and lawyer. Van Cauwelaert was born at Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek. He was a member of the Flemish movement, Professor of psychology at the Katholieke U ...

, politician (born 1880) * 6 June – Julius Raes, Capucin archivist (born 1884) * 4 August – Victor van Strydonck de Burkel, general (born 1876) * 17 December –

John Van Alphen Jan "John" van Alphen (17 June 1914 – 19 December 1961) was a Belgian footballer, born in Antwerp, Belgium. He played as a midfielder for Beerschot VAC. With the anversois, he twice won the Belgian Championship, in 1938 and 1939. He ...

, footballer (born 1914)

References

1960s in Belgium

Years of the 20th century in Belgium

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