Sint-Barbaracollege in

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 ...

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 ...

, is a private

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

school, founded in 1833. It currently includes primary and secondary education.

History

The school is built on the location of a cloister, the "Sint Barbaraklooster in Jerusalem". The cloister was founded in 1420 for

Augustinian nuns Augustinian nuns are the most ancient and continuous segment of the Roman Catholic Augustinian religious order under the canons of contemporary historical method. The Augustinian nuns, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo (died AD 430), are sever ...

, closed in 1783 by order of

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 unt ...

, briefly reopened but closed again during the

French Revolutionary War The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

. In 1814 the building near the Ketelvest housed a secondary school, but that was closed in 1819 by order of

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 ...

who had opened an atheneum in the nearby buildings of the old Baudelo Abbey. In 1833, after the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. T ...

of 1830 the

Bishop of Ghent The Diocese of Ghent (Latin: ''Dioecesis Gandavensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropoli ...

, Jan Frans Van De Velde, gave the school to the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

s. The first students graduated in 1836. A school church was inaugurated on 6 November 1858.

Maurice Maeterlinck Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count (or Comte) Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in ...

, who was sent there in 1874 (then aged 14) disliked the fact that in Sainte-Barbe works of the French

Romantics Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

were scorned and only plays on religious subjects were permitted. His experiences at this school influenced his distaste for the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and organized religion.

Program

Though located in a Dutch-speaking Flemish city, the language of instruction at Sint-Barbaracollege was French, and as such it was considered in the 19th and early 20th Century as instilling a French cultural identity in its young Flemish pupils – though some of them later rebelled against this identity, such as

Joris Van Severen Joris Van Severen (19 July 1894 – 20 May 1940) was a Belgian politician and ideologue of the Flemish Movement as well as a Pan-Netherlander. A leading figure of pre-World War II Flemish nationalism, he co-founded the extreme-right group V ...

. As of 2011, the Sint-Barbaracollege consists of K through 12: primary secondary education. Improvements since 2014 made way for a spacious new sports hall. In 2017 the school extended its Wi-Fi capability and increased the number of tablets available to students. There is an active parents' group which raises money for school improvements. The school persists in striving to implement and update the principles of Jesuit pedagogy in dialogue with Christian values as it addresses the challenges of a secularized and globalized society.

Notable alumni

Karel Justinus Calewaert Karel Justinus Calewaert (17 October 1893 – 27 December 1963) was a Belgian Roman Catholic bishop. Life Early years Calevaert was born in Deinze, a small town a short distance to the southwest of Ghent. His father, also named Justinus Calewa ...

Corneille Heymans Corneille Jean François Heymans (28 March 1892 – 18 July 1968) was a Belgian physiologist. He studied at the Jesuit College of Saint Barbara and then at Ghent University, where he obtained a doctor's degree in 1920. Heymans won the Nobel Pr ...

Charles van Lerberghe Charles van Lerberghe (21 October 1861 – 26 October 1907) was a Belgian author who wrote in French and was particularly identified with the symbolist movement. The growing atheism and anticlerical stance evident in his later work made it popula ...

Gerard Mortier Gerard Alfons August, Baron Mortier (25 November 1943 – 8 March 2014) was a Belgian opera director and administrator of Flemish origin. Biography Born in Ghent, the son of a baker, Mortier attended in youth the Jesuit private school Sint-Barbar ...

* Albert Nyssens (1855-1901) *

Georges Rodenbach Georges Raymond Constantin Rodenbach (16 July 1855 – 25 December 1898) was a Belgian Symbolist poet and novelist. Biography Georges Rodenbach was born in Tournai to a French mother and a German father from the Rhineland (Andernach). He was ...

Jacques Rogge Jacques Jean Marie Rogge, Count Rogge (, ; 2 May 1942 – 29 August 2021) was a Belgian sports administrator and physician who served as the eighth President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2001 to 2013. In 2013, Rogge beca ...

, IOC president * François van Rysselberghe, scientist (1846-1893) *

Marcel Storme Marcel Storme (3 August 1930, Ghent – 30 March 2018) was a Belgian lawyer, member of the Ghent Bar, and Christian Democratic Party politician. He was the son of Professor Jules Storme and Maria Bosteels. He went to school in the Sint-Barbara ...

Joris van Severen Joris Van Severen (19 July 1894 – 20 May 1940) was a Belgian politician and ideologue of the Flemish Movement as well as a Pan-Netherlander. A leading figure of pre-World War II Flemish nationalism, he co-founded the extreme-right group V ...

Emile Verhaeren Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...

Philippe Herreweghe Philippe Maria François Herreweghe, Knight Herreweghe (born 2 May 1947) is a Belgian conductor and choirmaster. Herreweghe founded La Chapelle Royale and Collegium Vocale Gent and is renowned as a conductor, with a repertoire ranging from Rena ...

René Jacobs René Jacobs (born 30 October 1946) is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor, but later in his career he became known as a conductor of baroque and classical opera. Biography Countertenor Born in Ghent, Jacobs began his music ...

References

{{Authority control 1833 establishments in Belgium Educational institutions established in 1833 Education in Ghent Jesuit secondary schools in Belgium

History

Program

Notable alumni

See also

References