Edward Van Even (1821–1905) was a Belgian archivist, writer and historian.

Life

Van Even was born in

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

on 6 December 1821. In 1846 he was appointed assistant librarian to 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 ...

, resigning in 1853 to take up a position working for the local council as city archivist and secretary of municipal festivals. In addition to his function as archivist, Van Even was also in charge of the municipal museum, located in the

Leuven Town Hall The Town Hall (Dutch: ) of Leuven, Belgium, is a landmark building on that city's ''Grote Markt'' (Main Market) square, across from the monumental St. Peter's Church. Built in a Brabantine Late Gothic style between 1448 and 1469, it is famou ...

. From this museum grew the Stedelijk Museum Vander Kelen-Mertens, now the

M - Museum Leuven M, or m, is the thirteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''em'' (pronounced ), plural ''ems''. History Th ...

, which after 1938 included his own collections. Van Even's sisters, who like their brother remained unmarried, donated parts of Van Even's collection to his friend Victor Demunter (1857-1939),

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the municipal museum. Upon the death of his last surviving sister, Agnes Eugenia Van Even (1824-1911), the rest of the collection also ended up with Demunter, who transferred it to the city along with his collection in 1938. He was a member of the Royal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature, the

Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, sometimes referred to as ') is the independent learned society of science and arts of the French Comm ...

, and the

Royal Academy of Archaeology of Belgium The Royal Academy of Archaeology of Belgium (french: Académie Royale d'Archéologie de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Academie voor Oudheidkunde van België), founded in 1842, is a learned society in Belgium that works to promote research and education ...

. He died in Leuven on 11 February 1905.Raymond van Uytven
, "Even (Gérard-Edouard Van)", ''Biographie Nationale de Belgique">Raymond van Uytven">Raymond van Uytven
, "Even (Gérard-Edouard Van)", ''Biographie Nationale de Belgique'', vol. 33] (Brussels, 1966), pp. 304-306.

Works

* ''Les Artistes de l'Hôtel de ville de Louvain'' (1852) * ''Louvain monumental'' (1860) * ''L'Ancienne École de peinture de Louvain'' (1870) * ''Mengelingen voor de geschiedenis van Braband'' (1871) * ''Inventaire chronologique et analytique des chartes et autres documents sur parchemin appartenant aux archives de la ville de Louvain'' (1873)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Even, Edouard 1821 births 1905 deaths Writers from Leuven Belgian archivists 19th-century Belgian historians 19th-century Belgian male writers