Chevalier Antonin de Selliers de Moranville

Antonin Leonard Maurice Ghislain, Knight de Selliers de Moranville (

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode ( French, ) or Sint-Joost-ten-Node ( Dutch, ), often simply called Saint-Josse in French or Sint-Joost in Dutch, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part o ...

1852 –

Ixelles (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...

1945) was a Belgian military officer.

Early life

He was born into a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

noble family; his father was Léonard de Selliers de Moranville, knight of Selliers de Moranville (1803–1856). He married Octavie Hector, with whom he had 7 children. Until 1869 he studied at the École Royale Militaire.

Career

Second Lieutenant in 1871. Colonel in 1902. In 1904, he was Commander in Chief of the

Gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

, a military force with

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

duties, until 1914. He was Chief Commander of the Belgian army from 25 May until 6 September 1914. During his assignment the Kingdom was invaded by German troops and the Belgian mobilization started. On 6 September he was dismissed by the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

, under the advice of Lieutenant General Baron Louis de Ryckel. The same Decree abolished the function of Chief of Staff. In this way the King secured control of the force. He is buried in the cemetery of Neder-Over-Heembeek.

Honours

* : ** Croix de Guerre. ** Grand Officer in the Order of Leopold. ** Grand Officer in the Order of the Crown. * : Grand Cordon in the Imperial Order of Saint Anna. * : Grand Officer in the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

. *: Honorary Knight Commander in the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George. *: Knight Commander in the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ. *: Knight in the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. *: Knight of the

Order of the Redeemer The Order of the Redeemer (), also known as the Order of the Saviour, is an order of merit of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the modern Greek state. Establishment The establishment of the Orde ...

. * Honorary Citizen of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moranville, Antonin de Selliers de Belgian Army generals of World War I Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Belgian knights Commanders of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau People from Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Royal Military Academy (Belgium) alumni 1852 births 1945 deaths 19th-century Belgian military personnel