Events from the year 2002 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. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

: Albert II *

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 i ...

: Guy Verhofstadt

Events

;January * 1 January – Reform of Belgian local police territories into 28 "zones" comes into effect. ;April * World's first fetoscopic tracheal occlusion for

congenital diaphragmatic hernia Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a birth defect of the diaphragm. The most common type of CDH is a Bochdalek hernia; other types include Morgagni hernia, diaphragm eventration and central tendon defects of the diaphragm. Malformation of ...

carried out in

UZ Leuven Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven or University Hospitals Leuven, often shortened to UZ Leuven, is an academic hospital in Leuven, Belgium, associated with the university KU Leuven. It consists of three campuses as of 2022; Gasthuisberg, Pellenberg a ...

. ;June * 13 June – Peter Carmeliet awarded the

Francqui Prize The Francqui Prize is a prestigious Belgian scholarly and scientific prize named after Émile Francqui. Normally annually since 1933, the Francqui Foundation awards it in recognition of the achievements of a scholar or scientist, who at the start ...

for his work in the biological and medical sciences. ;August * 3-4 August – 2002 Spa 24 Hours won by

Larbre Compétition Larbre Compétition is a French auto racing team founded in 1988 by Jack Leconte. Based at the Circuit du Val de Vienne in Le Vigeant, Larbre has had considerable success in the Porsche Carrera Cup, French GT Championship, and international ...

;September * 1 September – 2002 Belgian Grand Prix at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps won by

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

. * 21 September – Antwerp fashion museum opens. ;October * 30 October –

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 ...

's first spaceflight begins. ;December * 4 December – Xavier Deutsch awarded the Prix Rossel for ''La Belle Étoile''.

Art and architecture

;Buildings *

Poelaert Elevators The Poelaert Elevators (french: Ascenseurs Poelaert, nl, Poelaertliften), in popular language Elevators of the Marolles (french: Ascenseurs des Marolles, link=no, nl, Liften van de Marollen, link=no) is a public elevator in the Marollen, Maro ...

in Brussels inaugurated *

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

Flagey Building The Flagey Building (french: Bâtiment Flagey, nl, Flageygebouw) also known as Radio House (french: Maison de la Radio, nl, Radiohuis) is a building located in Ixelles, a municipality of Brussels, Belgium, housing the Flagey cultural centre. ...

, former national broadcasting headquarters, reopens as a cultural centre after renovations.

Births

* 15 January – Jannes Van Hecke, footballer * 2 May – Killian Sardella, footballer * 8 August – Marco Kana, footballer * 21 August – Isaac Asante, footballer

Deaths

;January * 15 January –

Jean Dockx Jean Baptiste Dockx (24 May 1941 – 15 January 2002) was a Belgian international footballer. He played for Mechelen, Racing White and Anderlecht, and for the Belgium national team in the 1970 FIFA World Cup and the 1972 UEFA European Footb ...

, footballer (born 1941) * 28 January –

Gustaaf Deloor Gustaaf Deloor (24 June 1913 – 28 January 2002) was a Belgian road racing cyclist and the winner of the first two editions of the Vuelta a España in 1935 and 1936. The 1936 edition remains the longest winning finish time of the Vuelta in ...

, cyclist (born 1913) ;February * 11 February –

Frans Van Coetsem Frans (Camille Cornelis) Van Coetsem (April 14, 1919 – February 11, 2002) was a Belgian (Flemish) linguist. After an academic career in Flanders and the Netherlands he was appointed professor at Cornell University in 1968, and consequently he em ...

, linguist (born 1919) ;March * 23 March –

Marcel Kint Marcel Kint (20 September 1914, in Zwevegem – 23 March 2002, in Kortrijk) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer who won 31 races Velopalmares: Sterckx between 1935 and 1951. His finest year was 1938 when he won the World Cycling ...

, cyclist (born 1914) ;April * 20 April –

Pierre Rapsat Pierre Rapsat (born Pierre Raepsaet, 28 May 1948 – 20 April 2002) was a Belgian singer-songwriter who had a very successful career in his homeland and also spells of popularity in other Francophone countries. Outside these areas, he is best kno ...

, singer-songwriter (born 1948) ;June * 7 June –

Lilian, Princess of Réthy Princess Lilian of Belgium, Princess of Réthy (born Mary Lilian Henriette Lucie Josephine Ghislaine Baels; – ) was the second wife of King Leopold III of Belgium. Born in the United Kingdom and raised in Belgium, she became a volunteer ...

(born 1916) ;November * 19 November – Prince

Alexandre de Mérode Prince Alexandre de Merode (May 24, 1934 – November 19, 2002) was a member of the Belgian princely House of Merode and was the head of drug testing policy for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) until his death. Merode was born in Etterbeek ...

(born 1934)

References

{{Year in Europe, 2002 Years of the 21st century in Belgium