Émile Theodore Joseph Hubert Banning (12 October 1836 – 13 July 1898) was a doctor of philosophy and literature and a Belgian senior

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

who played an important role in the Belgian politics of the 19th century. Born in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

, Banning started his career as a journalist with the ''l'Écho du Parlement'', where he became an observer of the political life, after a stay at the Royal Library as its archivist and librarian, he was appointed to the department of Foreign Affairs where he quickly became a kind of oracle in all the historical and geographical questions of his time. From a "simple" historian he became a leading actor of the great decisions in matters of Belgian domestic as well as international policy. His knowledge of the world was of great support to

Leopold II of Belgium Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Leo ...

, even if the king moved away more and more from the advice of Banning. Émile Banning was a leading negotiator at the

Berlin Conference The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 was a meeting of colonial powers that concluded with the signing of the General Act of Berlin,

of 1884 and the Brussels Conference of 1890 both involving the Congo. His political doctrines, based on high international morality and the respect of the law of nations, influenced many Belgian personalities such as . He died 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 ...

on 13 July 1898.

Sources

* Carlier, J., Les idées d'Emile Banning sur la neutralité et la défense du pays, in : Revue de Belgique, febr. 1901, p. 105-118. * Cousin, P., Un grand commis d'Etat : Emile Banning, in : Res Publica, 1959, nr. 2, p. 157-161. * Leclère, L., Deux livres d'Emile Banning, in : Le Flambeau, 1927, nr. 12, p. 361-371. * Fondation du Congo, Memoires de Emile Banning, 1927 1836 births 1898 deaths Belgian philosophers Politicians from Liège Leopold II of Belgium 19th-century Belgian civil servants 19th-century Belgian writers {{Belgium-philosopher-stub

See also

Sources