Herman Liebaers (February 1, 1919 in

Tienen Tienen (; ) is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises Tienen itself and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Margriete-Houtem and Viss ...

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 ...

– November 9, 2010 in

Jette Jette (; ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Ganshoren, Koekelberg, and Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, as well as the Fl ...

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 ...

) was a Belgian linguist. He was director general of the central Belgian Royal Library and ''Marshal of the Royal Household'' of the Royal Court of Belgium.

Education

He obtained a master's degree in literature from

Ghent University Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

in 1942 and a Ph.D. in 1955 at the same university.

Career

In 1943, he started working at the

Royal Library of Belgium The Royal Library of Belgium ( ; ; , abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history that goes back to the age of the Duke of Burgundy, Dukes of Burgundy. In ...

(''Albertina''). During the war he was captured by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s and imprisoned in the

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

of Breendonk and

Huy Huy ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the '' sillon industriel'', the former industrial backbone of Wall ...

. In 1950, he spent 6 months in the U. S. with a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

and worked a few weeks at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. From 1951 until 1956, he was also Assistant Secretary of 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 ...

. In 1954, he moved on to become the librarian of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...

).Wijnstroom, Margreet (2 December 2010). "Dr. Herman Liebaers, 1919-2010". International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. ifla.org. Retrieved 23 February 2024. In 1956, he returned to the Royal Library in Brussels, being appointed its director general, and helped oversee the establishment of its new permanent secretariat in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. From 1969 until 1974, he was president of the

International Federation of Library Associations The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is an international body representing the interests of people who rely on libraries and information professionals. A non-governmental, not-for-profit organization, IFLA ...

(IFLA), and subsequently honorary president. He was an editor and biographer of the 19th-century poet Hélène Swarth. From 1973 until 1981, he was ''Marshal of the Royal Household'' of king

Baudouin I of Belgium Baudouin (; 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993) was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his death in 1993. He was the last Belgian king to be sovereign of the Belgian Congo, Congo, before it became independent in 1960 and became the Demo ...

. He was the first Dutch speaking Fleming in this post. Other Flemings had preceded him but were French-speaking members of the old nobility. In 1976, he was awarded

American Library Association Honorary Membership Honorary Membership conferred by the American Library Association is the Association's highest award. "Honorary membership may be conferred on a living citizen of any country whose contribution to librarianship or a closely related field is so outs ...

."IFLA Honorary President, Has Been Awarded an Honorary Membership on the Occasion of the Centenary of American Library Association." 1976. ''

IFLA Journal ''IFLA Journal'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the fields of librarianship and information science. It publishes original research, case studies, and essays on library and information services and the social, political ...

'' 2 (3): 173.

Personal life

He was married to Isa Hereng. They had a son, Dirk, and a daughter Inge Liebaers, who was a Professor of genetics at the

Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Dutch language, Dutch, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated VUB) is a Dutch- and English-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has four campuses: Brussels Humanities, Science and Engine ...

Bibliography

* ''Hélène Swarths Zuidnederlandse jaren'', Ghent, 1964. * ''Hélène Swarth. Brieven aan Pol de Mont'', Ghent, 1964 * ''Liebaers on Libraries and the 37th Session of IFLA in Liverpool'', Wilson Library Bulletin, 45, 10, 950–951, June 1971 * ''Book promotion through libraries'', New Delhi: Federation of Publishers and Booksellers Associations in India, 1973 * ''The impact of American and European librarianship upon each other'', Chicago, 1977 * ''Small Talk about Great Books'', Delivered on the Occasion of the 7^th. Annual Bromsen Lecture, Boston, Mass., May 12, 1979. * ''Mostly in the line of duty: thirty years with books'', The Hague, Boston, London, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1980 * ''Rond de Brusselse Warande'', Brussels, 1988 * ''Autour Du Parc De Bruxelles'', Brussels, 1988 * ''Books over bombs'', IFLA in Moscow, August 1991 * ''Koning Boudewijn in spiegelbeeld'', Van Halewyck, 1998 * ''Beyond Belgium'', Van Halewyck, 2003

References

External links

International Library Associations

Herman Liebaers' obituary
1919 births 2010 deaths Dignitaries of the Belgian court Linguists from Belgium Belgian people of World War II Breendonk prison camp survivors Ghent University alumni People associated with CERN People from Tienen Presidents of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions {{Belgium-bio-stub