Baron Édouard-Émile-Albert de Laveleye (

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 i ...

, 22 October 1854-

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 ...

, 23 November 1938) was a Belgian mining engineer, financier and writer. He was son of Émile de Laveleye (1822-1892), a famed economist. He made several investment trips in Latin America. His nephew was Victor de Laveleye, the

Belgian government in exile The Belgian Government in London (french: Gouvernement belge à Londres, nl, Belgische regering in Londen), also known as the Pierlot IV Government, was the government in exile of Belgium between October 1940 and September 1944 during World W ...

's spokesman in London during

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 opposing ...

Sports

He was the first chairman of the

Belgian Football Association The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA; ; ; ) is the governing body of football in Belgium. It was a founding member of FIFA in 1904 and UEFA in 1954 and was based in Brussels, not far from the King Baudouin Stadium. Since October 2021, ...

(1895–1924), and the president of the Belgian Olympic Committee. For his services, he was made the first honorary member of FIFA. This honor was given to him after convincing representatives of

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

, the association that included members of the British

Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...

, to join FIFA rather than remain independent. On April 14, 1905 The Football Association recognized the authority of FIFA. This allowed FIFA to hold its first international football competition. In allying the Football Association in the French FIFA, each of the home nations joined as equal members, a legacy maintained today. On February 18, 1906, in the Hotel Ravenstein in

, Laveleye formed the Belgian Olympic Committee, and was elected the group's first president. In this role he posted a bid for

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 ...

on March 27, 1912 to host the 1920 Olympics. The games were successfully awarded to Antwerp, much because of his influence and the effect

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

had on the nation. This was the only time they have been held in Belgium.

Writings

* ''Excursion aux nouvelles découvertes minières du Colorado'' 1878 * ''Chicago et la traversée du continent - Notes d'un voyage aux États-Unis'' 1880

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Laveleye, Edouard Sportspeople from Ghent Belgian football managers Football people in Belgium Belgium national football team managers 1854 births 1938 deaths