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 Community of Belgium In Belgium, the French Community (french: Communauté française; ) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (french: Féd� ...

. One of Belgium's numerous academies, it is the French-speaking counterpart of the

Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts The Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts ( nl, Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten, or KVAB) is one of an independent learned society of science and arts of the Flemish Community in Belgium. ...

. In 2001 both academies founded a joint association for the purpose of promoting science and arts on an international level:

The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is a non-governmental association which promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies su ...

(RASAB). All three institutions are located in the same building, the

Academy Palace The Academy Palace or Palace of the Academies (french: Palais des Académies, nl, Paleis der Academiën) is a neoclassical palace in Brussels, Belgium. It was originally built between 1823 and 1828 for Prince William II of Orange. Today, it ...

in Brussels.

History

A preexisting literary society was founded in 1769 under the auspices of

Karl von Cobenzl Johann Karl Philipp, Graf von Cobenzl (21 July 1712 in Laibach (now Ljubljana) – 27 January 1770 in Brussels) was an 18th-century politician in the Habsburg monarchy. He was minister plenipotentiary of the Austrian Netherlands in Brussels un ...

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word ...

of the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands nl, Oostenrijkse Nederlanden; french: Pays-Bas Autrichiens; german: Österreichische Niederlande; la, Belgium Austriacum. was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The p ...

under Empress Maria Theresa (hence its nickname ""). In 1772 Cobenzl's successor

Georg Adam, Prince of Starhemberg Johann Georg Adam Graf von Starhemberg, since 1765 Fürst von Starhemberg (''prince of Starhemberg'') (10 August 1724 in London – 19 April 1807 in Vienna) was an Austrian diplomat, minister, chief chamberlain and close confidant of Empres ...

continued the efforts of his predecessor by expanding the society to a scientific academy. This academy was granted the right to bear the title of ''Imperial and Royal Academy of Science and Letters of Brussels'' by Empress Letters Patent dated 16 December 1772. The sovereign instructed the academics to animate the intellectual life of the country and to stimulate and coordinate scientific research in a wide variety of fields. This institution did not survive the occupation by the French of the Austrian Netherlands, and the academy held its last plenary session on 21 May 1794.

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 10 ...

, king of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1815, reinstituted the academy by Royal Decree of 17 May 1816 on the title of Royal Academy of Sciences and Letters (). Work was restarted with 8 remaining academics associated with other Dutch and Belgian fellow-members. Its legal personality is recognised by the law of 2 August 1924.

Belgian Academy

After the 1830 Belgian Revolution, the Academy found its permanent place in the social order and on 1 December 1845

Leopold I of Belgium * nl, Leopold Joris Christiaan Frederik * en, Leopold George Christian Frederick , image = NICAISE Leopold ANV.jpg , caption = Portrait by Nicaise de Keyser, 1856 , reign = 21 July 1831 – , predecessor = Erasme Lou ...

named it . He set up three classes: science, letters and fine arts, each with 30 members of Belgian nationality. Confirm Art. 2 the King is Royal Patron, and bestows membership. * Founding members:

Nicaise de Keyser Nicaise de Keyser (alternative first names: Nicaas, Nikaas of Nicasius; 26 August 1813, Zandvliet – 17 July 1887, Antwerp) was a Belgian painter of mainly history paintings and portraits who was one of the key figures in the Belgian Romantic- ...

Eugène Simonis Louis-Eugène Simonis (11 July 1810, in Liège – 11 July 1893, in Koekelberg) was a Belgian sculptor. Career Simonis studied under François-Joseph Dewandre at the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Liège and at the age of nineteen went to I ...

Louis Gallait Louis Gallait (9 or 10 May 1810 – 20 November 1887) was a Belgian painter. He lay at the basis of a revival of history painting in Belgium. He earned his reputation especially with the large painting of Charles V's abdication. Gallait's works w ...

Jan August Hendrik Leys Henri Leys, Hendrik Leys or Jan August Hendrik, Baron Leys (18 February 1815 – 26 August 1869) was a Belgian painter and printmaker. He was a leading representative of the historical or Romantic school in Belgian art and became a pioneer of th ...

Jean-Baptiste Madou Jean-Baptiste Madou (3 February 1796 – 31 March 1877) was a Belgian painter and lithographer. Life Madou was born in Brussels. He studied at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts and was a pupil of Pierre Joseph Célestin François. While ...

François-Joseph Navez François-Joseph Navez (16 November 1787 – 12 October 1869) was a Belgian neo-classical painter. Biography Navez was born in Charleroi. He was a pupil of Jacques-Louis David. He spent five years in Italy between 1817 and 1822. Between 1835 ...

, Henri van der Haert, Eugène Joseph Verboeckhoven,

Gustaf Wappers Egide Charles Gustave, Baron Wappers (23 August 18036 December 1874) was a Belgian painter. His work is generally considered to be Flemish and he signed his work with the Dutch form of his name, Gustaaf Wappers.Note: The painter is known by one ...

Guillaume Geefs Guillaume Geefs (10 September 1805 – 19 January 1883), also Willem Geefs, was a Belgian sculptor. Although known primarily for his monumental works and public portraits of statesmen and nationalist figures, he also explored mythological su ...

Joseph-Pierre Braemt Joseph-Pierre Braemt (15 June 1796 – 2 December 1864) was a Belgian medalist and coin designer. Biography After training at the academies of Ghent and then Brussels, Joseph-Pierre Braemt perfected his craft in Paris with the engraver Andr� ...

Tilman-François Suys Tilman-François Suys (in French) or Tieleman Frans Suys (in Dutch) (1 July 1783 – 22 July 1864) was a Belgian architect who also worked in the Netherlands. Biography Suys completed his architectural education in Paris, where he studied un ...

Louis Roelandt Louis Roelandt or ''Lodewijk Joseph Adriaan Roelandt'' with his full Dutch name, was a Belgian architect that played an important role in the evolution of Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Classical architecture in Belgium. During the period that Belg ...

, Charles Auguste de Bériot,

François-Joseph Fétis François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, composer, teacher, and one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ''Biographie univer ...

Théodore-Gérard Hanssen Théodore-Gérard Hanssen, best known under the name Théo Hanssen (10 August 1885, Wonck - 29 May 1957, Roanne) was a Belgian stained glass artist mainly active in France. His windows include some of those at Notre-Dame de la Trinité Basilica in ...

and

Henri Vieuxtemps Henri François Joseph Vieuxtemps ( 17 February 18206 June 1881) was a Belgian composer and violinist. He occupies an important place in the history of the violin as a prominent exponent of the Franco-Belgian violin school during the mid-19th ce ...

. In 1938, the was created as an independent solely Dutch-speaking Flemish academy while the Royal Academy of Belgium remained a bilingual institution hosting members both from the north and from the south of the country. The bilingual status of the Royal Academy however caused difficulties over the course of the years, which ultimately were resolved in 1971 by splitting the academy into two independent monolingual entities.''geschiedenis (history)''
at kvab.be The law of 1 July 1971 put both academies in linguistic equality: henceforth their own lingua franca is used (respectively the French and the Dutch) and they bear the same denomination. In 1999 the Dutch-speaking academy changed its name to "

" ().

Organization and members

The academy is divided into four major classes and assemblies are held monthly: *Class of Sciences: mathematical, physical, chemical, biological, geological sciences and related disciplines; *Class of Letters and moral and political sciences: history, archeology, letters, philosophy, moral and political sciences, sociology, economy, law, psychology and economy. *Class of Arts: painting, architecture and sculpture, music, cinematographic and audiovisual arts, performing arts, history of art, art criticism. *Class of Technical Sciences: various engineering resulting from sciences including their impact on society. Each class is composed of 50 members and 50 foreign members.

Location

The Academy is headquartered in the

(''Paleis der Academiën'' (Dutch) / ''Palais des Académies'' (French)), which is on ''Hertogsstraat'' (Dutch) / ''Rue Ducale'' (French) 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 ...

. By a royal decree of 30 April 1876, the Palace was put at the disposition of the two existing Belgian academies, the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium and the Académie royale de Médecine de Belgique ( fr) founded in 1841. Three further academies came to share the space: the Académie royale de Langue et de Littérature françaises ( fr), founded in 1920 by Jules Destrée; in 1938 the ''Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België'' as independent Dutch-language academy (now the

) and the Koninklijke Academie voor Geneeskunde van België ( nl) (Dutch counterpart of ''Académie royale de Médecine de Belgique'' in French i.e. Royal Society of Medicine of Belgium) also founded in 1938.

Permanent secretaries

The lead director is a permanent secretary (). Since November 2007, the secretary is Hervé Hasquin.

Prizes and awards

Many scientific and art prizes ( fr) are awarded each year in different kinds of subjects.

RASAB membership

Since its foundation in 2001 the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium has been a member of RASAB (the

Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is a non-governmental association which promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies su ...

) – along with its Dutch-speaking sister-academy KVAB – in order to coordinate and promote the 25 National Scientific Committees and the international activities in Belgium.

Presidents

*1773: Joseph de Crumpipen *1816 – 1820: Baron Guillaume de Feltz *1820 – 1832 : Charles-Alexandre, 3rd Prince de Gavre * 1835: Baron

Goswin de Stassart Goswin Joseph Augustin, Baron de Stassart (2 September 1780 – 16 October 1854) was a Dutch-Belgian politician. Stassart studied accounting and economics in Paris. In 1804 he became Auditor in the French State Council, in 1805 he became Intenda ...

* 1836 * 1837: Baron Goswin de Stassart * 1838 * 1839: Baron Goswin de Stassart * 1840 * 1841: Baron Goswin de Stassart * 1842 * 1845: Baron Goswin de Stassart * 1844: Baron Goswin de Stassart * 1847: Baron Goswin de Stassart * 1853: Baron Goswin de Stassart * 1870: Gustave Dewalque * 1874:

Nicaise De Keyser Nicaise de Keyser (alternative first names: Nicaas, Nikaas of Nicasius; 26 August 1813, Zandvliet – 17 July 1887, Antwerp) was a Belgian painter of mainly history paintings and portraits who was one of the key figures in the Belgian Romantic- ...

* 1876:

Henri Alexis Brialmont Henri-Alexis Brialmont (Venlo, 25 May 1821 – Brussels, 21 July 1903), nicknamed The Belgian Vauban after the French military architect, was a Belgian army officer, politician and writer of the 19th century, best known as a military archi ...

* 2010:

Pierre Bartholomée Pierre Georges Édouard Bartholomée (Brussels, 5 August 1937) is a Belgian conductor and composer. Career He began his musical studies at the age of six with piano lessons. Later on he graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where he ...

* 2016: Charles J. Joachain * 2017: Monique Mund-Dopchie

Famous members

A full list can be found in the (1769-2005).

References

External links

ARB Website

KVAB WebsiteRASAB Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium, The

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 ...

Scientific organisations based in Belgium

Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage