Andries Maurice Jean Marie BaronSince 1989, Van den Abeele has been a

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

. Van den Abeele (born April 12, 1935, in

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

) is a Belgian historian

historical preservationist Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

, and former entrepreneur, politician, and

employers' organization An employers' organization or employers' association is a collective organization of manufacturers, retailers, or other employers of wage labor. Employers' organizations seek to coordinate the behavior of their member companies in matters of mutu ...

chairman. Van den Abeele studied philosophy and

the arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of m ...

at the

Université de Namur The University of Namur or ''Université de Namur'' (UNamur) is a Jesuit university in Namur, in the French Community of Belgium. Both teaching and research in the university are carried out by six ''faculties''. Location The University of Nam ...

and the University of Leuven. He was the corporate director of Van den Abeele N.V. from 1960 to 1997. He is married and has three children.

Politics

As a member of the Christian People's Party (Christelijke Volkspartij, abbr. CVP) he was a member of the municipal council of Bruges from 1965 to 1982. He was also an alderman of finance and

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

from 1972 to 1977. In 1992, he switched to

Flemish Liberals and Democrats The Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (, , Open Vld) is a Flemish liberal political party in Belgium. The party has been described as centre-right and has smaller factions within the party that have conservative liberal and social liberal v ...

(Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten, abbr. VLD), and from 1994 to 1996 he was again a municipal councilor.

Historical preservation and writings

In 1965, he erected with friends the Marcus Gerards Association in order to preserve and renovate the

architectural conservation Conservation and restoration of immovable cultural property describes the process through which the material, historical, and design integrity of any immovable cultural property are prolonged through carefully planned interventions. The indivi ...

in the city of Bruges. Van den Abeele wrote a lot about urban renewal, historical preservation, and the history of the city of Bruges. He also wrote about

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

References

External links

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Andries Van den Abeele
at the Digital Library for Dutch Literature {{DEFAULTSORT:Van den Abeele, Andries 1935 births Living people Belgian barons Belgian corporate directors Christian Democratic and Flemish politicians Politicians from Bruges Flemish historians Flemish nobility Historical preservationists Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats politicians Writers from Bruges Université de Namur alumni