Aloïs Jacques Victor Marie Simon (1897–1964) was a Belgian historian and professor at the
University Faculty of Saint-Louis in Brussels, with a particular interest in 19th-century Belgian
Church history
Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception.
Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of t ...
from the perspective of Church–State relations and international diplomacy.
Roger Aubert
Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...
, "Simon, Aloïs", ''Nouvelle Biographie Nationale Nouvelle is a French word, the feminine form of "new". It may refer to:
;Places
* Nouvelle, Quebec, a municipality in Quebec, Canada
* Nouvelle-Église, a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department, France
* Port-la-Nouvelle, a commune in the Aude dep ...
''
vol. 3
(Brussels, 1994), pp.300-303.
Life
Simon was born in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
on 25 November 1897. He received his education at the
Institut Sainte-Marie, Schaerbeek, and the
Major Seminary, Mechelen. He was ordained to the priesthood on 1 January 1922, and was sent to the
Catholic University of Leuven
University of Leuven or University of Louvain (; ) may refer to:
* Old University of Leuven (1425–1797)
* State University of Leuven (1817–1835)
* Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)
* Katholieke Universiteit Leuven or KU Leuven (1968 ...
for further study in history.
[ He graduated from the university in 1924. Until the ]Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he was involved in secondary education, first as a teacher and later as the head of the Institut Saint-Boniface, Ixelles. In 1942, he was asked to take over the teaching of undergraduate history at the Institut Saint-Louis. This was an emergency appointment, but he remained in the position for the next 20 years.[ On 2 May 1960, he was elected as a corresponding member of the ]Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium
The Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium ( , sometimes referred to as ' ) is the independent learned society of science and arts of the French Community of Belgium. One of Belgium's numerous academies, it is the French-speak ...
.[ A memorial volume was published in 1975, ''L'Église et l'État à l'époque contemporaine: Mélanges dédiés à la mémoire de Mgr Aloïs Simon'', edited by Gaston Braive and Jacques Lory.
]
Publications
Simon was a member of the editorial committee of the ''Biographie Nationale de Belgique
The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' (; ) is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ''Nouvelle Biographie Nationale'' (, ...
'', and contributed a number of articles to the series.
His other works include:
* ''L'archiduchesse Isabelle: son temps et son âme'' (Brussels, Éditions universitaires, 1946)
* ''L'Eglise catholique et les débuts de la Belgique indépendante'' (Wetteren, Scaldis, 1949)
* ''Le Cardinal Sterckx et son temps, 1792–1867'' (Wetteren, Scaldis, 1950)
* ''La Liberté d'enseignement en Belgique: essai historique'' (Liège, La pensée catholique, 1951)
* ''La politique religieuse de Léopold Ier'' (Brussels, Goemaere, 1953)
* ''Correspondance du Nonce Fornari, 1838-1843'' (Brussels, Institut historique belge de Rome, 1956)
* ''Documents relatifs à la nonciature de Bruxelles, 1834-1838'' (Brussels, Institut historique belge de Rome, 1958)
* ''Le Parti Catholique belge, 1830–1945'' (Brussels, La renaissance du livre, 1958)
* ''Lettres de Pecci, 1843–1846'' (Brussels, Institut historique belge de Rome, 1959)
* ''Le cardinal Mercier'' (Brussels, La renaissance du livre, 1960)
* ''Réunions des évêques de Belgique, 1830-1867: procès-verbaux'' (Leuven, Nauwelaerts, 1960)
* ''Réunions des évêques de Belgique, 1868-1883: procès-verbaux'' (Leuven, Nauwelaerts, 1961)
* ''Evêques de la Belgique indépendante, 1830–1940: sources d'archives'' (Leuven, Nauwelaerts, 1961)
* ''Instructions aux nonces de Bruxelles, 1835–1889'' (Brussels, Institut historique belge de Rome, 1961)
* ''Léopold Ier'' (Brussels, La renaissance du livre, 1963)
* ''L'Église Catholique et les Droits de l'Homme'' (Brussels, La renaissance du livre, 1963)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Alois
1897 births
1964 deaths
20th-century Belgian historians
Writers from Antwerp
Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni