Below, you can see the list of famous Belgians broken down by category. You can also see them ranked Alphabeticallyor you can have a look at the current Top 10.
One thing we have learnt in the many years this website has been running, is that everyone has their own definition of what FAMOUS means. Some people think it means 'famous in Belgium', others think it should be 'famous in the world'.
Many believe it can include people 'worthy' of being famous for what they have done (or are still doing) but who have never been recognised for it by the masses. Some even say, the more people on the list you recognise, the higher your IQ ... but lets leave it there for now. If you have strong views on the subject, please Contact Us and we will include a selection each month in our Blog.
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INVENTORS
Many important discoveries have been made by Belgians, including Adolphe Sax (inventor of the saxophone), Adolphe Quetelet (inventor of the Body Mass Index or BMI) and Django Reinhardt (inventor of the two-finger guitar playing technique). See the Full List of Inventors for more.
NOBEL LAUREATES
For such a small country, Belgium has had more than its fair share of Nobel Prize winners. There have been 9 Nobel Laureates in total, including Albert Claude (1974, for isolating the first cancer cell), Maurice Maeterlinck (1911, Literature) and Christian de Duve (1974, for discovering lysosomes and peixosomes).
In sport, Belgium has in recent times excelled in ladies tennis of course with Kim Klijsters and Justine Henin but in my view the real Belgian sporting hero of all time is without a doubt Eddy Merckx who won the Tour de France 5 times in his career.
Not far behind him is Sir Raymond Ceulemans who is widely recognised as the best billiards player of all time and was World Champion 17 times in his long career. He was honoured with a Knighthood by the King of Belgium in 2003.
Jacques Rogge of course is the current President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and footballer Jean-Marc Bosman became famous for forcing a change in the transfer rules.
The swimmer Fred Deburghgraeve broke the men's 100m breaststroke World Record in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. See the Full List for more.
BUSINESS
There are many successful Belgian companies and business leaders. The example I always use when people ask me is Bernard Van Hool, the manufacturer of buses, coaches, trucks and lorries. Next time you're on the road in Europe, just look out for the company logo and you'll be surprised how many there are on the road !
Dr Paul Janssen, the founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica, is widely recognised as the most well-known business leader. His company employs more than 20,000 people and has developed more than 80 new medicines. Four of these are on the WHO list of essential medicines, something which no other company worldwide has managed to achieve. He was honoured with a Knighthood by King Boudewijn of Belgium.
Many of you will have perhaps received prints on photographic paper made by N.V. Gevaert, the photographic company founded by Lieven Gevaert in 1889. The company merged with Agfa in 1964 and became Agfa-Gevaert. Many of you no doubt will have used Agfa films and paper too.
Bekaert N.V. is a global market leader in drawn steel wire products such as barbed fencing and has annual sales of more than 4 billion euros in 120 countries. The company has 23,000 employees worldwide and was founded in 1880 by Leo Leander Bekaert.
Ernest Solvay was another hugely successful Belgian businessman. A disease of the lungs prevented him from going to University but he worked in his father's chemical factory and invented and patented a process to produce sodium carbonate, known worldwide as the Solvay-process.
He founded his company in 1863 and the company today has an annual turnover of more than 10 billion euros and has 30,000 staff in 50 countries. More than 2600 of these employees are engaged in research.
There are dozens of candidates to lead this category but I'll start with Louis Zimmer for the simple reason that he is from Lier, the town where I was born. Louis Zimmer was a clockmaker with a difference - next time you visit Belgium, please go and visit the famous Zimmer Tower in Lier and you'll see what I mean. The Zimmer clock ranks among the world's most famous astronomic clockworks on account of its originality and ingenuity.
Two important scientists have already been covered above in the Nobel Laureates section so we won't focus on them here. There were several other brilliant minds; George Lemaitre discovered the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe, Jules Bordet was the first to create a vaccine for whooping cough and Gerardus Mercator was the first cartographer to come up with a map that used straight lines to indicate latitude and longitude.
Andreas Vesalius was a physician and anatomist who in 1543 wrote an elaborate anatomical work, “De Humani Corporis Fabrica” (On The Structure Of The Human Body). This document was a milestone in medical history. Hundreds of Galen's anatomical errors were clearly demonstrated by this remarkable observer. It was the first anatomical textbook that could pretend to scientific accuracy. See the Full List for more.
LITERATURE
Georges Simenon is well known for his 102 stories of Inspector Maigret but most of you will probably put Herge (real name Georges Remi) top of the list for his adventures of TinTin.
One of my favourites is Maurice Maeterlinck who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1911 for his popular plays. I recently read his book "The Life of the Bee" (1901). Originally written in French (La Vie des abeilles), it was translated into English by Alfred Sutro in 1914. There is a very nice English edition published by The Folio Society which I recommend.
Like many people, I am concerned about the catastrophic demise of bees in recent years and this book gives a great insight into their life. I can also recommend "A World Without Bees" by Alison Benjamin & Brian McCallum, which explores why bees are on the road to extinction and makes very worrying reading. See the Full List for more.
FILM
The No 1 in this category is without a doubt Audrey Hepburn. You get a universal jaw-dropping response from most people when you tell them she is Belgian.
Another famous actor is Jean-Claude van Damme (aka The Muscles from Brussels). There are many more Belgian movie stars but I'll refer you to the Full List for more.
MUSIC
Who hasn't heard of Plastic Bertrand and his famous punk song "Sa Plane Pour Moi"? Many have suggested we should include Johnny Halliday because his father was Belgian, but he was born in France and his mother was French, so we've decided to let France have him. In any case, his parents divorced shortly after his birth and he was raised by his aunt and uncle instead.
Other musical highlights are the famous chansonnier Jacques Brel, the jazz legend Toots Thielemans and we must not forget the famous singing nun Soeur Sourire (real name Jeanne Deckers) with her worldwide No 1 hit "Dominique" which sold more than 1.5 million copies.
Catholicism is the main religion in Belgium, although this is declining rapidly. Pater Damiaan (Father Damien), real name Jozef de Veuster, was a Belgian Roman Catholic missionary famous for his work among the lepers on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. He is particularly well-known in America.
The Vatican has confirmed he will be elevated to Sainthood (canonized) on 11th October 2009. To become a saint, a person must be responsible for two posthumous miracles. Father Damien was beatified by Pope John Paul II after a first miracle was attributed to him. The second miracle was confirmed in July 2008, guaranteeing Father Damien’s canonization. See the Full List for more.
ARCHITECTURE
Victor Horta is generally credited with initiating the architectural style of Art Nouveau in 1893 with his Tassel House in Brussels. See the Full List for more Belgian architects.
KINGS
Belgium has had a total of 6 Kings in its short history, starting with Leopold I (1831-1865), then followed by Leopold II (1865-1909), Albert I (1909-1934), Leopold III (1934-1951) and Boudewijn I (1951-1993).
The current King of Belgium since 1993 is Albert II. See the Full List for all the Kings.
POLITICIANS
There have been several politicians of note in Belgium's short history. Paul Henry Spaak was the founder of the Benelux and in 1946 became the first President of the United Nations General Assembly.
He was also instrumental in forming the Council of Europe in 1949 (later became the European Union). He was Secretary General of NATO from 1957 to 1961 and served as Prime Minister of Belgium in three separate Governments. He became widely known as "Mr Europe".
Auguste Beernaert was Belgium’s first representative at The Hague Peace Conferences in 1899 and 1907, two years after which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 80.
Belgium has had more than 50 Prime Ministers since 1831, see the Full List to see all of them.
MISCELLANEOUS
We could put dozens of people in this category but we'll just tempt you with 3 of them, picked at random.
Dirk Frimout was the first Belgian astronaut to make it into space.
Hercule Poirot, the well-known detective, is obviously fictitious but is certainly famous and undeniably Belgian.
Finally, we have Walter Arfeuille who is in the Guinness Book of Records for lifting 281.5kg a distance of 17cm off the ground with his teeth in 1990. A few years later, in 1996, he shocked everyone by pulling a train weighing 223 tons a distance of 3.2m with his teeth. Please don't try this at home!