Désiré de Haerne (4 July 1804 – 22 March 1890) was a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

, who was one of the signers of the

Belgian constitution The Constitution of Belgium ( nl, Belgische Grondwet, french: Constitution belge, german: Verfassung Belgiens) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility f ...

. He also founded the

St John's Catholic School for the Deaf St John's Catholic School for the Deaf is a school for deaf and hearing impaired children in Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England. Monsignor de Haerne, an influential Belgian priest and senator founded the School at a small house in H ...

, which today is located in

Boston Spa Boston Spa is a Village and civil parish in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Situated south of Wetherby, Boston Spa is on the south bank of the River Wharfe which separates it from Thorp Arch. According to th ...

, West Yorkshire, and he was for a time director of the Royal Institution for Deaf (and Dumb Girls) in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium.

Life and career

Désiré-Pierre-Antoine de Haerne was born on 4 July 1804 in

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

, Belgium, when it was part of the Kingdom of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. His parents were Pierre de Haerne (1780-1849), a lace merchant and minor government official, and Sophie-Catherine van der Ghote. His brother Auguste de Haerne (1806-1870) became the "Doyen of Ninove", probably at the abbey of St. Cornelius, where he had a dozen priests under his direction; and another brother Louis de Haerne (1817-1887) became the king’s district commissioner of

Eeklo Eeklo () is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises only the town of Eeklo proper. The name ''Eeklo'' comes from the contraction of "eke" and "lo", two Old German words meaning ''oak'' and ''spar ...

(Echlo), and at times was administrator of the districts of

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...

Tielt Tielt (; french: Thielt) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Tielt proper and the villages of Aarsele, Kanegem, and Schuiferskapelle. History Some traces of Gallo-Roman occu ...

and

Roeselare Roeselare (; french: Roulers, ; West Flemish: ''Roeseloare'') is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The ...

(Roulers). Désiré decided to enter the church, and after completing his studies at the College of

and then the Seminary of

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

, he taught during 1824-25 school year at the College of

Courtrai Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It is the capital and larges ...

. He was ordained a deacon in 1827, and then a priest in 1828. After which he was appointed in 1829 as the Vicar of

Moorslede Moorslede () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Dadizele, Slypskapelle and Moorslede proper. On 1 January 2006, Moorslede had a total population of 10,618. The total area is ...

, but served there only ten months. When he wrote against the Dutch King

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...

, he was forced in 1830 to flee

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 ...

, disguised as a horse merchant, and take refuge in France. He returned the following year when Belgium gained independence from the

, and was elected in 1830, at the age of just 26, as the representative of

to the

congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

that helped to frame the

. Then for thirteen years he was professor of Rhetoric at the College of Courtrai. He returned to politics in 1844 and became a member of the

Belgian parliament The Federal Parliament is the bicameral parliament of Belgium. It consists of the Chamber of Representatives (Dutch: , french: Chambre des Représentants, german: Abgeordnetenkammer) and the Senate (Dutch: , french: Sénat, german: Senat). It s ...

, representing for the next 46 years the district of Courtrai. He also received in 1855 the honorary title of Canon of the Cathedral of

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, and

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

in 1870 made him a bishop. When as a young man in 1829 he was ministering in

, he began working with the deaf, which led to him taking on from 1858 to 1869 the position of director of the Royal Institution for the Deaf (and Dumb Girls) in

. Then from 1869 to 1873 he was rector of the English Seminary in

. He also founded in 1870 in Handsworth, Woodhouse (a suburb of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

) the

(formerly St. John's Institution), which was the first catholic school for the deaf in England. This school was moved in 1875 to

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, West Yorkshire, where it is located today. He also helped to start in 1885 the ''Bombay Institution for the Deaf and Mutes'' in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In addition to these accomplishments, he invented a

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...

for the deaf, wrote several academic articles on his work with the deaf, and published various political pieces as well. Probably his best known publication in the United States is the ''American Question'', which was published during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, and he was also lauded in the United States for a eulogy that he gave after President Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

Death and recognition

Désiré de Haerne was made a knight of the

Order of Leopold (Belgium) The Order of Leopold ( nl, Leopoldsorde, french: Ordre de Léopold, ) is one of the three current Belgian national honorary orders of knighthood. It is the oldest and highest order of Belgium and is named in honour of its founder, King Le ...

, the

Order of the Crown (Belgium) The Order of the Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne, nl, Kroonorde) is a national order of the Kingdom of Belgium. The Order is one of Belgium's highest honors. History The Order was established on October 15, 1897 by King Leopold II * ...

, the Order of Charles III (Spain), the Legion of Honour (France), and the

Order of Christ (Portugal) The Military Order of Christ is the former order of Knights Templar as it was reconstituted in Portugal. Before 1910 it was known as the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It was ...

. He died on 22 March 1890 in

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode () or Sint-Joost-ten-Node (), often simply called Saint-Josse or Sint-Joost, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the Ci ...

, a suburb of

. Memorials in his honor at St. John's School in England include a statue of him on the roof of the chapel, and a stained glass portrait in one of the chapel windows. There is also a statue of him by the sculptor Paul de Vigne that was unveiled on 26 August 1895 in the town square (Mgr. de Harneplein) of

, Belgium. This statue was moved in 1929, then again in 1951, and today stands in a park on Avenue Monseigneur de Haerne in Courtrai.

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

DE HAERNE Désiré (1804-1890)
on ''Chambre des représentants de Belgique (1831-1848)''
Statue of Désiré de Haerne
in Courtrai, Belgium.
Memorial Window of Désiré de Haerne
at St John's School for the Deaf, Boston Spa, England. {{DEFAULTSORT:de Haerne, Desire 1804 births 1890 deaths Canons (priests) Members of the National Congress of Belgium People from Ypres