Gustave André Boël (18 May 1837 – 31 March 1912) was a Belgian industrialist and liberal politician. He was the father of

Pol Clovis Boël Pol-Clovis, Baron Boël (2 August 1868 – 13 July 1941) was a Belgium, Belgian industrialist, Director of the ''Usines Gustave Boël'' in La Louvière, and liberalism, liberal politician. Born in La Louvière, Saint-Vaast, he was a son of G ...

Career

Boël was the son of farmers (Salasse farm), growing up with four brothers and a sister. Boël studied at the industrial school of Houdeng-Aimeries and in 1851, at the age of 14, started working at the ''Etablissements Ernest Boucquéau''. He became foreman of the factory and in 1865 he became plant manager. Ernest Boucquéau, at the edge of bankruptcy and faced with the refusal of his family to help him, asked Boël and his accountant to assist him in saving the company. They helped gather the necessary funds to finish the work he had started on the railroad tunnel between

Enghien Enghien (; ; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1January 2006, Enghien had a total population of 11,980. The total area is , which gives a population density of 295 inhabitants per km2. ...

and

Geraardsbergen Geraardsbergen (; ) is a city and municipality located in the Denderstreek and in the Flemish Ardennes, the hilly southern part of the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Geraardsbergen proper and the follo ...

of the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

Braine-le-Comte Braine-le-Comte (; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Braine-le-Comte had a total population of 21,649. The total area is which gives a population density of 260 inhabi ...

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

. On 16 July 1880, Ernest Boucquéau died without leaving an heir and he bequeathed his fortune and his companies to Gustave Boël and his accountant. When the accountant died, Boël became the sole heir of the entire fortune and the factories. As of 1881, he modernized his companies and created an industrial group by taking participations in other companies, such as the steel factories ''Fabrique de Fer de Charleroi'' (Fafer) in

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

and in Braine-le-Comte, coal mines and

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

industry ''les Glaces de Moustier-sur-Sambre'' which would become

Glaverbel AGC Glass Europe is an international glass manufacturing group based in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, and the European branch of the AGC Inc. Group. AGC Glass Europe currently employs some 14,500 people.

. On 1 September 1888, Gustave Boël was one of the first in Belgium who established a participation in the profits for the employees of his factory. In 1912, the ''Etablissements Ernest Boucquéau'' would become the '' Usines Gustave Boël''.

Political career

Gustave Boël also inherited the liberal political and philosophical ideas of Boucquéau. As a progressive liberal, he embarked on a political career. On 11 October 1880, Boël became a member of the communal council of

La Louvière La Louvière (; ) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussoit, Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pie ...

, and on 14 November of the same year, he became

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

. On 4 May 1881, Boël became

burgomaster Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, ) is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or executive of a city or town. The name in English was derived from the Dutch . In so ...

of La Louvière. During his mandate, he supported many local initiatives and provided financial support for the construction of the hospital of La Louvière. In 1883, he resigned as burgomaster and became senator from 12 April 1883 until 8 July 1884. Asked by his liberal political friends, he again became senator on 14 June 1892, and from that moment onwards, Boël would stay senator for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

until his death in 1912.

Sources

* Duchène, C., ''Biographie Nationale, Brussel, Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux Arts, 1866–1986, XXXIV'', 1968, col. 84–87. * Dutrieue, Anne-Myriam, in: Kurgan-van Hentenrijk, Ginette, Jaumain, Serge, Montens, Valérie, a.o., ''Dictionnaire des patrons en Belgique. Les hommes, les entreprises, les reseaux'', Bruxelles, De Boeck & Larcier, 1996, p. 60-61. * Ginette Kurgan and Erik Buyst, ''100 grands patrons du XXe siècle en Belgique'', Alain Renier ed., Brussels, 1999, pp. 26–27 et 235. {{DEFAULTSORT:Boel, Gustave 1837 births 1912 deaths People from La Louvière Belgian businesspeople Liberal Party (Belgium) politicians Walloon people