Émile Francqui (; 25 June 1863 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

– 1 November 1935 in Brussels) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

soldier,

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or interna ...

, business man and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

Career

As an orphan, Émile Francqui was sent to a military school when he was just 15 years old. At the age of 21, like many young officers, he was sent to

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leop ...

by king

Leopold II of Belgium * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = ...

. In 1896, he became the Belgian consul in

Imperial China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapt ...

and stayed there until 1902. In China he met the future American president

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gre ...

during negotiations concerning the granting of the Hankow-Canton railroad concession in China in 1901. Although they were competitors, they respected each other very much and became friends. Francqui returned to Belgium in 1902, and began a financial career. He became the managing director of the ''Banque d'Outremer'', and managing director of the ''

Union Minière du Haut Katanga Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

'' (UMHK). Ten years after his return to Belgium, he became Director of the ''

Société Générale de Belgique The ' ( nl, Generale Maatschappij van België; literally "General Company of Belgium") was a large Belgian bank and later holdings company which existed between 1822 and 2003. The ''Société générale'' was originally founded as an investm ...

'', and in 1932 became its Governor. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

he was President of the Belgian '' Comité National de Secours et d'Alimentation'' (National Aid and Food Committee, abbreviated to CNSA). During World War I, Herbert Hoover in the United States set up the

Commission for Relief in Belgium The Commission for Relief in Belgium or C.R.B. − known also as just Belgian Relief − was an international (predominantly American) organization that arranged for the supply of food to German-occupied Belgium and northern France during the Wor ...

(CRB) to support the CNSA abroad. After the war the remaining resources of the committee were decided to be used for the rebuilding of Belgium. Émile Francqui wanted to invest in the universities as a means for rebuilding the country. In 1920 the

University Foundation The Belgian University Foundation (French: ''Fondation Universitaire''; Dutch: ''Universitaire Stichting'') was founded in 1920. The goal of the Foundation, as was put forward by Emile Francqui, is to promote scientific activity at Belgian univer ...

was founded by Émile Francqui. In addition the

Belgian American Educational Foundation The Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF) is an educational charity. It supports the exchange of university students, scientists and scholars between the United States and Belgium. The foundation fosters the higher education of deserving ...

(BAEF) was founded for the exchange of students between Belgium and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Émile Francqui was involved, with Félicien Cattier, in the establishment of the ''

Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique The National Fund for Scientific Research (NFSR) (Dutch: ''Nationaal Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek'' (NFWO), French: ''Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique'' (FNRS)) was once a government institution in Belgium for supporting scien ...

'' (FNRS). In April 1924, Émile Francqui participated in the creation of the

Dawes Plan The Dawes Plan (as proposed by the Dawes Committee, chaired by Charles G. Dawes) was a plan in 1924 that successfully resolved the issue of World War I reparations that Germany had to pay. It ended a crisis in European diplomacy following Wor ...

to find a solution for the collection of the German reparations debt following World War I. The future king, Leopold III, requested Francqui take steps to improve the health of the population Belgian Congo, leading to the foundation Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine in 1931 of which Francqui served as first President. In 1932 Émile Francqui and Herbert Hoover created the

Francqui Foundation The Francqui Foundation was founded in 1932 by Emile Francqui and Herbert Hoover with the goal "to further the development of higher education and scientific research in Belgium". The foundation is a private foundation under the legal form of ...

for the support of basic research in Belgium.

Honours

* 1918: Grand Officer on the Order of Leopold.RD 8/12/1918 * 1926: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold.

References

External links

Francqui Fondation

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Francqui, Emile 1863 births 1935 deaths Military personnel from Brussels Belgian soldiers Diplomats from Brussels Businesspeople from Brussels Société Générale de Belgique Belgian Ministers of State Belgian civil servants Congo Free State officials Belgian relief in World War I

Career

Honours

See also

References

External links