Anton Arnold Jozef "Jef" Van Bilsen (13 June 1913, in

Diest Diest () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. Situated in the northeast of the Hageland region, Diest neighbours the provinces of Antwerp to its North, and Limburg to the East and is situated around ...

– 22 July 1996, in

Kraainem Kraainem (; sometimes unofficially spelt ''Crainhem'' in French language, French, ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The municipality only comprises t ...

), usually cited as A. A. J. Van Bilsen in his academic publications, was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

professor who, in December 1955, proposed a 30-year scheme (known as the "Van Bilsen Plan") for creating a self-sufficient independent state out of the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Van Bilsen was an active member of the extreme-right

Verdinaso Verdinaso (''Verbond van Dietsche Nationaal-Solidaristen'', ), sometimes rendered as Dinaso, was a small authoritarian and fascist political party active in Belgium and, to a lesser extent, the Netherlands between 1931 to 1941. Verdinaso was foun ...

party and, in 1942, became a member of the

Belgian Resistance The Belgian Resistance (french: Résistance belge, nl, Belgisch verzet) collectively refers to the resistance movements opposed to the German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Within Belgium, resistance was fragmented between many se ...

. After the war, he travelled in colonial Africa. Van Bilsen is best known for devising a plan for the long-term independence of the Belgian Congo in the 1950s. The timetable, outlined in December 1955 and in a pamphlet entitled ''Un Plan de Trente Ans pour l'émancipation politique de l'Afrique Belge'' (1955–56), called for a gradual change over 30 years, the time he estimated it would take to create an educated

elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...

to administrate the new Congo. His plan never came to fruition after Congolese nationalists demanded immediate independence, especially after the Léopoldville Riots of 1959, leading to a period of prolonged political chaos, known as the

Congo Crisis The Congo Crisis (french: Crise congolaise, link=no) was a period of political upheaval and conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost immediately after ...

, and the eventual seizure of power by

Joseph-Désiré Mobutu Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...

in 1965. Van Bilsen taught at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of ...

and

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

Bibliography

* ''Vers l'indépendance du Congo et du Ruanda-Urundi'' (1958) * ''Kongo 1945–1965: Het Einde van een Kolonie'' (1993)

Bibliography

* * Lieven Saerens. ''Inventaris van het Archief Anton A. Jozef (Jef) Van Bilsen (1913–1996)''. KADOC Reeks Inventarissen en Repertoria nr. 59, Leuven, 200

* * *

External links

Archives of Jef Van Bilsen
i
ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures

A.A. Jozef Van Bilsen
Royal Museum for Central Africa 1913 births 1996 deaths Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni Belgian Africanists People from Diest Catholic University of Leuven faculty Ghent University faculty {{Africanist-stub