Events in the year 1981 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 ...

: ** until 31 March:

Wilfried Martens Wilfried Achiel Emma Martens (; 19 April 1936 – 9 October 2013) was a Belgian politician who served as prime minister of Belgium from 1979 to 1981 and from 1981 to 1992. A member of the Flemish Christian People's Party, during his premiership ...

** 31 March-17 December:

Mark Eyskens Marc Maria Frans, viscount Eyskens (born 29 April 1933), known as Mark Eyskens, is a Belgian economist, professor and politician in the Christian People's Party, now called Christian Democratic and Flemish, and briefly served as the prime minist ...

** starting 17 December: Wilfried Martens

Events

*July 30 -

Belgian Anti-Racism Law The Belgian Anti-Racism Law, in full, the Law of 30 July 1981 on the punishment of certain acts inspired by racism or xenophobia, is a law against hate speech and discrimination passed by the Federal Parliament of Belgium in 1981 which made certain ...

*October 20 -

1981 Antwerp bombing On 20 October 1981, a truck bomb exploded outside a Portuguese Jewish synagogue in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium, in the diamond district of Antwerp. The explosion took place 9.30 on a Tuesday morning, shortly before Simchat Torah religious s ...

*November 8 -

General election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

Publications

* ''

Cowboy Henk ''Cowboy Henk'' is a Belgian absurd/surreal humour gag-a-day comic strip series drawn by Herr Seele and written by Kamagurka. It was originally published in the newspaper ''De Morgen'', but later taken over by the magazine ''HUMO'', in which it ...

'' strip first published *

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

, ''Economic Surveys: Belgium, Luxembourg'' *

Rita Lejeune Rita Lejeune (1906–2009) was a Belgian philologist who became a leading expert in the study of medieval French literature. Life Lejeune was born in Herstal on 22 November 1906. Her father, Jean Lejeune, was a local government clerk and also a p ...

and

Jacques Stiennon Jacques Stiennon (1 May 1920 – 5 May 2012) was a Belgian medievalist who worked as a librarian and a professor of history at the University of Liège. His main research interests were in the history of the principality of Liège and of Wallonia, e ...

(eds.), ''La Wallonie, le Pays et les Hommes: Lettres, Arts, Culture'', vol. 4 (La Renaissance du Livre, Brussels)

Births

;January * 4 January –

Silvy De Bie Silvy De Bie (born 4 January 1981), also known as Sil (stylised as SIL) or Silvy Melody is a Belgian singer. She was previously a vocalist for the dance band Sylver. Career Silvy was born in Heist-op-den-Berg, and became a Flanders child star ...

, singer * 6 January –

Jérémie Renier (; born 6 January 1981) is a Belgian actor. His film debut was in the critically praised (1996), directed by the Dardenne brothers. He became better known to worldwide audiences in ''Brotherhood of the Wolf'' (2001) and (2005). The latter ...

, actor ;February * 4 February –

Johan Vansummeren Johan Vansummeren (born 4 February 1981) is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2016 for the , , and teams. Biography Vansummeren was born, raised, and resides in Lommel, Flanders, Belgiu ...

, cyclist * 27 February **

Evi Goffin Lasgo were a Belgian electronic music group. The group formed in 1999 was composed of Evi Goffin, David Vervoort, Peter Luts, and Dave McCullen). Peter Luts confirmed on Belgian radio in 2008 that Evi Goffin was not returning to the band, after c ...

, singer **

Élodie Ouédraogo Élodie Ouédraogo (born 27 February 1981 in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode) is a retired Belgian sprinter of Burkinabé descent, who specializes in the 200 metres

, sprinter ;April *10 April –

Yves V Yves Van Geertsom, known professionally as Yves V () or Eefee, is a Belgian DJ and record producer. In 2019, he was voted in at number 56 in the ''DJ Mag'' Top 100. Career Yves V has performed at festivals such as TomorrowWorld, Sensation ...

, DJ and producer ;May * 3 May –

Lieven Scheire Lieven Scheire (born 3 May 1981) is a Belgian comedian, mainly known for being a member of Neveneffecten. Career Scheire attended secondary school at the Sint-Lodewijkscollege in Lokeren; he then began a physics degree at Ghent University, but ...

, comedian ;June * 2 June – Kurt Hovelijnck, cyclist ;July * 15 July –

Sébastien Rosseler Sébastien Rosseler (born 15 July 1981) is a Belgian professional road racing cyclist who rides for Veranclassic-Doltcini. Between 2012 and 2013, Rosseler competed with UCI ProTeam . Born in Verviers, Wallonia, Belgium, Rosseler currently resides ...

, cyclist ;October * 3 October – Lydia Klinkenberg, politician

Deaths

*January 27 -

Leo Collard Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * ''Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky * Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Arts an ...

(born 1902), politician *February 7 - Marius Mondelé, footballer *February 9 -

Albert Dejonghe Albert Dejonghe (Middelkerke, 14 February 1894 — Middelkerke, 23 February 1981) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer. He won Paris–Roubaix in 1922, one stage in the 1923 Tour de France and finished 5th and 6th in the 1925 and ...

(born 1894), cyclist *April 5 - Émile Hanse (born 1892), footballer *May 19 - Marcel Vercammen, footballer *August 29 - Joseph Givard, footballer *October 21 -

Wilfried Puis Wilfried Puis (18 February 1943 in Ostend – 21 October 1981) was an Belgian football player. He played for R.S.C. Anderlecht and the Belgium national football team. Puis was praised for his speed, agility and goal kicks which made him and Pau ...

(born 1943), footballer *November 29 - Dieudonné Smets, cyclist

References

{{Year in Europe, 1981 1980s in Belgium