Baron François du Four (

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, 1871 – 1945) was a Belgian industrialist. He married Germaine Herry in 1902, and together they had seven daughters and a son. When his mother, Josephina Frederika Dessauer, died in 1904, he became the owner of the family business

Brepols Brepols is a Belgian publishing house. Once, it was one of the largest printing companies in the world and one of the main employers in Turnhout (Belgium). Besides its printing business, Brepols is also active as a publisher. Formerly well known ...

, a paper – and playing card factory. The company at that moment had about 1000 employees. From 1919 up to 1932 François du Four was mayor of Turnhout. In 1929, King

Albert I of Belgium Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. He is popularly referred to as the Knight King (, ) or Soldier King (, ) in Belgium in reference to his role during World War I ...

knighted him and granted him the title of

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

. The heraldic motto of the du Fours is ''Melius esse quam vider'', which means ''it is better to be than to seem'', and their own weapon-shield represents a lion. In Turnhout there is a street named after him: the baron François du Four street, which starts on the central market place of Turnhout. In this street the old factory buildings of Brepols were located. In 1945, Francois du Four died at the age of 74. François du Four liked racing-horses. His

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

s won a lot of races and a lot of prize money. After he died, regretfully, all his horses were sold. In 1904, he had bought a small farm in

Retie Retie (; , ) is a municipality located in the Campine region of the province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp, Belgium. The municipality comprises the town of Retie proper and several hamlets of which Schoonbroek is the largest. In 2021, Retie had a ...

with neighboring pasture. He was especially looking for a place where he could breed thoroughbreds. In 1905, he started with the construction of the park where now the castle of Retie stands. In 1906, he started the building of a castle and the stables for his horses.

Sources

* Walter Raeymakers, ''Baron François du Four. Een leven tussen drukpersen renpaarden en politiek'', Turnhout, Brepols, 1995.

External links

Castle of Retie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Four, Francois 1871 births 1945 deaths Flemish businesspeople People from Turnhout Belgian barons Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni Knights Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great Knights of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)