Events from the year 2003 in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

: Albert II *

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Guy Verhofstadt Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt (; ; born 11 April 1953) is a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008. He was a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium from 2009 until 2024. He was a me ...

Events

;February * 1 February –

Lucas Van Looy Lucas Van Looy S.D.B. (born 28 September 1941) is a Belgian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Bishop of Ghent from 2004 to 2019. He worked as a missionary in South Korea for more than a decade and held leadership positions with the Salesi ...

consecrated as

bishop of Ghent The Diocese of Ghent (Latin: ''Dioecesis Gandavensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropol ...

* 15 February – 70,000 people march through the streets of

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 ...

as part of the global anti-war protest. ;April * 12 April – Wedding of Prince Laurent and Claire Coombs ;May * 15 May –

Art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

cinema De Roma in

Borgerhout Borgerhout () is the smallest districts of Antwerp, district of Antwerp, Belgium. , the district housed 45,769 inhabitants on 3.93 km². It was an independent municipality until January 1983. The postal area code for Borgerhout is 2140. Geography ...

reopens as a cultural centre and performance venue * 18 May –

Belgian federal election, 2003 Federal elections were held in Belgium on 18 May 2003, the first under a new electoral code. One of the novelties was an electoral threshold of 5, which has cost many seats to the N-VA and the Green parties, Ecolo and Agalev. The Belgian Soci ...

;June * 1 June – Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Belgium ;July * 12 July –

Verhofstadt II Government The Verhofstadt II Government was the Belgian Federal Government, federal government of Belgium from 12 July 2003 to 21 December 2007. It was the second government headed by Prime Minister of Belgium, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (Flemish Libe ...

sworn in ;September * 7 September –

Guy Harpigny Guy Harpigny (born 13 April 1948 in Luttre) is a Belgian Bishop of the Catholic Church. He was ordained to the priesthood on 7 July 1973. On 22 May 2003 he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Tournai by Pope John Paul II Pope John P ...

consecrated as

bishop of Tournai The Diocese of Tournai () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. The diocese was formed in 1146, upon the dissolution of the Diocese of Noyon and Tournai, which had existed since the 7th century ...

;October * 1 October – Merger between 3 universities leads to the establishment of the

University of Antwerp The University of Antwerp () is a major Belgian university located in the city of Antwerp. The official abbreviation is ''UAntwerp''. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 students, which makes it the third-largest university in Flanders. ...

Births

* 23 April –

Princess Laetitia Maria of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (born 5 June 1962), is the second child and first daughter of King Albert II and Queen Paola, and the younger sister to the current Belgian monarch, King Philippe. She is married to Prin ...

, fifth child of

Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este (born 16 December 1955) is a member of the Belgian royal family as the husband of Princess Astrid of Belgium. He is the head of the House of Austria-Este, a cadet branch of the House of Habsbu ...

and

Princess Astrid of Belgium Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (born 5 June 1962), is the second child and first daughter of King Albert II and Queen Paola, and the younger sister to the current Belgian monarch, King Philippe. She is married to Pr ...

* 20 August –

Prince Gabriel of Belgium Prince Gabriel of Belgium (, ; born 20 August 2003) is the elder son and second child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium. He is currently second in line to the throne of Belgium after his elder sister, Elisabeth. Early life Pri ...

, second child of

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 ...

(then Duke of Brabant) and

Mathilde of Belgium Mathilde Marie Christine Ghislaine d'Udekem d'Acoz (; born 20 January 1973) is Queen of the Belgians as the wife of King Philippe. She is the first native-born Belgian queen, and has four children. She formerly worked as a speech therapist. ...

Deaths

;January * 8 January -

Franz Drappier Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

comic book writer * 11 January -

Bob Maertens Robert Maertens (24 January 1930 – 11 January 2003) was a Belgian international association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Born in Boom, Belgium, Boom, Maertens played club football for Royal Antwerp F.C., Royal Antwe ...

soccer player * 22 January -

Georges Mommerency Georges may refer to: Places *Georges River, New South Wales, Australia * Georges Quay (Dublin) *Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses * Georges (name) * ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas * "Georges" (song), a 19 ...

politician * 29 January -

Louis Baret Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...

singer and comedian ;February * 4 February **

Pierre Carteus Pierre Carteus ( Ronse, 24 September 1943 – 4 February 2003) was a Belgian footballer who played as a midfielder. He earned two caps for the Belgium national team and participated in the 1970 FIFA World Cup. Death Carteus died aged 59 on 4 Fe ...

soccer player **

André Noyelle André Noyelle (29 November 1931 – 4 February 2003) was a road racing cyclist from Belgium. He won the gold medal in the men's individual road race at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. At the same tournament he also claimed the ...

cyclist * 6 February -

Mark Braet Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

poet and politician * 9 February -

René Uyttendaele René (''born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name (Renée being the feminine ...

mayor * 26 February **

Christian Goethals Christian Roger Xavier Marie Joseph Ghislain Goethals (4 August 1928 – 26 February 2003) was a racing driver from Belgium. Goethals competed as an amateur in sports car races, driving a Porsche Spyder during the 1950s. His best results were a ...

race-car driver ** Michel Van Maele mayor ;March * 11 March - Jacques Yerna politician * 31 March -

Theo Mertens Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root ''Theo-'' derive from the Ancient Greek word (), which means God, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, Theophano and The ...

trumpet player ;April * 3 April - Karel Boumans comic book writer * 17 April -

Jeff Schell Jozef Stefaan "Jeff", Baron Schell (20 July 1935 – 17 April 2003) was a Belgian molecular biologist. Schell studied zoology and microbiology at the University of Ghent, Belgium. From 1967 to 1995, he worked as a professor at the university. F ...

molecular biologist * 20 April -

Henri Lemaître Henri Lemaître (1921 – 2003) was a Belgian prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Biography Henri Lemaître was born on 17 October 1921 in Mortsel, Belgium. He studied at the Major Seminar ...

papal diplomat ;May * 15 May **

Rik Van Steenbergen Hendrik Van Steenbergen (9 September 1924 – 15 May 2003) was a Belgium, Belgian racing cyclist, considered to be one of the best among the great number of successful Belgian cyclists. Early life Van Steenbergen was born in Arendonk into ...

cyclist **

Marcel Thielemans Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian ...

singer and trombone player * 22 May -

Albert Mettens Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mark ...

soccer player ;June * 1 June -

André Lootens André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French language, French-spe ...

mayor * 26 June -

Gerard Gaudaen Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this cas ...

wood carver ;July * 18 July - Daniël Van Avermaet TV presenter ;August * 1 August -

Guy Thys Guy Jean-Leonard Thys (6 December 1922 – 1 August 2003) was a Belgian football manager, mostly known for being the most successful manager in the history of the Belgium national football team as he managed to lead the national side to the ...

soccer manager * 5 August -

Maurice Mollin Maurice Mollin (6 May 1924 – 5 August 2003) was a Belgian racing cyclist. He rode in the 1947 and 1948 Tour de France. He finished in fifth place in the 1957 Paris–Roubaix. Major results ;1946 : 8th Schaal Sels ;1947 : 7th Brussel-Ing ...

cyclist ;September * 4 September -

Lola Bobesco Lola Violeta Ana-Maria Bobesco (9 August 1921– 4 September 2003) was a Belgian violinist of Romanian origin. Biography She was born in Craiova, Romania, and began her career as a child prodigy, giving her first recital there at the age of ...

violinist * 8 September -

August Vanistendael August Vanistendael (9 January 1917 – 8 September 2003) was a Belgian trade union leader and Catholic social activist. Born in Birtley, Tyne and Wear, in England, Vanistendael grew up in Belgium, and began working as a clerk at BAC, the Chr ...

union leader and politician * 22 September ** Maxime Brunfaut architect **

Armand Pien Armand Pien (Gent, 2 January 1920 – Gent, 22 September 2003) was a Belgian weatherman for 37 years. He was popular because his weather predictions were funny and somewhat cryptic. His show, "The Weather", was broadcast twice a week. It was desc ...

weather man and TV presenter ;October * 29 October -

Albert Cool Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mark ...

mayor * 30 October -

Antoon Roosens Antoon is a Dutch masculine given name that is an alternate form of Antonius used in Belgium, Netherlands, Suriname, South Africa, Namibia, and Indonesia, a nickname and a surname. Antoon is also a transliteration of Arabic (), also spelt , and ty ...

philosopher ;November * 11 November -

Paul Janssen Paul Adriaan Jan, Baron Janssen (12 September 1926 – 11 November 2003) was a Belgian physician. He was the founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica, a pharmaceutical company with over 20,000 employeesPaul Lewi, Obituary of Dr Paul Janssen (1926–20 ...

, founder of

Janssen Pharmaceutica Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine (formerly Janssen Pharmaceuticals) is a Belgian pharmaceutical company headquartered in Beerse, Belgium, and wholly owned by Johnson & Johnson. It was founded in 1953 by Paul Janssen. In 1961, Janssen Ph ...

;December * 8 December - Charly Talbot politician * 11 December - Ann Petersen actress

References

{{Year in Europe, 2003 Years of the 21st century in Belgium

2000s in Belgium