St. Michael's College () is a
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
secondary school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
in the
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
municipality of
Etterbeek
Etterbeek (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the municipalities of Auderghem, the Cit ...
, Belgium. The school was built in 1905 by the
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...
in order to replace the previous school that had become too small. It is situated next to the Jesuit administered
Church of St. John Berchmans.
History
The current St. Michael's College is chronologically the third college to be built:
The first college
The Jesuits have been in
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
since 1586. By the request of the Archdukes
Albert VII and
Isabella, the Jesuits agreed to open a college. Inaugurated on 14 July 1604, the college is composed of a large rectangle formed by the Rue de la Paille/Strostraat, the Rue de Ruysbroeck/Ruisbroekstraat and the Rue d'Or/Goudenstraat.
The Jesuits were ejected from the school in 1773 and it was demolished in 1891.
The second college
In 1814, the Jesuits returned to Belgium and opened the French-speaking St. Michael's College 19 years later in the
Chapel Church area of the city. In 1905, the expanding population forced the Jesuits to not only expand the college but to also look for a location for a new college. In 1905, the college on the Rue des Ursulines/Ursulinenstraat was renamed as
St John Berchmans College and the new college in the Etterbeek part of the city became St. Michael's College.
The third college

In 1905, building on the new St. Michael's College was complete and work on the nearby church started. It was built in the same neo-traditional architectural style as the rest of the school buildings. The college welcomed 400 students, of which 100 were boarders, on 3 October of that same year. On 20 July 1908, the foundation stone of the church was laid by Msg.
Giovanni Tacci Porcelli, the
Papal nuncio
An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is a ...
to Belgium. The architect Joseph Prémont was inspired by the Rhenan
Romanesque tradition of the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, especially the
Basilica of Saint Servatius
The Basilica of Saint Servatius () is a Roman Catholic Church (building), church dedicated to Saint Servatius, in the center of Maastricht, Netherlands. The architecturally hybrid but mainly Romanesque architecture, Romanesque church is situated ...
in
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...
. The church was consecrated on 9 July 1912 by the
Bishop of Galle, Joseph van Reeth
SJ.
Starting in the late 1930s, a shift in language was made which would result in St John Berchmans College speaking Dutch and English and the French-speaking section of the college being transferred to St. Michael's College. The two separate colleges still exist today, each teaching in their respective language.
Cegesoma.be
retrieved 20 February 2014
Notable students
Notable former students the old St. Michael's College:
* Ferdinand Perier (1875–1968), former professor at the college, Archbishop of Calcutta (1924–1960)
* Hubert Pierlot
Hubert Marie Eugène Pierlot (, 23 December 1883 – 13 December 1963) was a Belgian politician and Prime Minister of Belgium, serving between 1939 and 1945. Pierlot, a lawyer and jurist, served in World War I before entering politics in the 192 ...
(1883–1963), Prime Minister of Belgium (1939–1945)
Notable former students of the new St. Michael's College:
* Georges Lemaître
Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître ( ; ; 17 July 1894 – 20 June 1966) was a Belgian Catholic priest, theoretical physicist, and mathematician who made major contributions to cosmology and astrophysics. He was the first to argue that the ...
, (1894–1966), physicist and astronomer, considered the founder of the Big Bang theory
The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models based on the Big Bang concept explain a broad range of phenomena, including the ...
* Paul Grosjean (1900–1964), Jesuit priest and scholar
* André Waterkeyn, (1917–2005), engineer, creator of the Atomium
The Atomium ( , , ) is a landmark modernist building in Brussels, Belgium, originally constructed as the centrepiece of the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (Expo 58). Designed by the engineer André Waterkeyn and the architects André and Jean Pol ...
* Archduke Rudolf of Austria (1919–2010)
* Jacques van Ypersele de Strihou
Jacques Marie Joseph Hubert Ghislain van Ypersele de Strihou (born 5 December 1936) was the ''Principal Private Secretary'' to the King of the Belgians (1983–2013). When Albert II of Belgium succeeded his brother Baudouin I of Belgium, he kept ...
(1936–) Chief of Staff of Kings Baudouin and Albert II
* François Weyergans, (1941–), writer and academician
* Charles Picqué, (1948–), politician
* Olivier Maingain
Olivier D. A. Gh. Maingain (born 3 August 1958) is a Belgian francophone politician and former president of DéFI.
Biography
Olivier Maingain was born in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert to a Flemish mother and a Walloon father, Roger Maingain (1923-2013) ...
, (1958–), member of the House of Representatives and Mayor of Woluwe-St-Lambert
* Philippe of Belgium
Philippe (born 15 April 1960) is King of the Belgians. He is the eldest child of King Albert II and Queen Paola. He succeeded his father upon the former's abdication for health reasons on 21 July 2013. He married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz in 1 ...
(1960–)
* Prince Laurent of Belgium (1963–)
* Olivier Minne, (1967–), television host, producer and actor
Gallery
File:Église des jésuites - Bruxelles.JPG, The Jesuit church of 1664 situated next to its original site
File:College st Michel rue Ursulines cote rue.jpg, The second college's frontage on the Rue des Ursulines/Ursulinenstraat
File:Collège St Michel 1900.jpg, The new school around 1905 without the Church of St. John Berchmans
See also
* List of Jesuit sites in Belgium
* Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels
* Saint John Berchmans Church, Brussels
References
External links
St Michael College site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Michael College, Brussels
Etterbeek
Secondary schools in Brussels
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* he He ..., a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name
* Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
Educational institutions established in 1905
1905 establishments in Belgium