Herman Leo Van Breda (born Leo Marie Karel; 28 February 1911, in
Lier – 3 March 1974, in
Leuven
Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...
) was a Belgian
Franciscan friar, philosopher and founder of the Husserl Archives at the
Higher Institute of Philosophy of the
Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium.
On 19 August 1934, he was ordained as a
Catholic priest and in 1936 he started studying
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
at the Catholic University of Leuven, where he obtained a
PhD degree in 1941 with a dissertation on the
phenomenology
Phenomenology may refer to:
Art
* Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties
Philosophy
* Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839â ...
of
Edmund Husserl
Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (; 8 April 1859 – 27 April 1938) was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology.
In his early work, he elaborated critiques of histori ...
. Later he became a professor at the Catholic University of Leuven, where he stayed until his death in 1974.
Husserl archives
Van Breda saved the extensive writings and manuscripts of
Edmund Husserl
Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (; 8 April 1859 – 27 April 1938) was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology.
In his early work, he elaborated critiques of histori ...
from destruction 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.
For the preparation of his PhD thesis he traveled to
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
in 1938, where he found, in the legacy of Edmund Husserl (1859–1938), more than 40,000 ''
Gabelsberger''
stenography manuscripts and his complete research library. The political situation in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
at that time convinced him of the necessity to transport these manuscripts and Husserl's private library to
Leuven
Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...
. In order to smuggle the documents out of
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 ...
Germany, he needed the support not only of the rector of the Catholic University of Leuven, but also of the Belgian government. The Belgian Prime Minister at that time,
Paul-Henri Spaak, allowed van Breda to bring the documents from Freiburg to the Belgian embassy in Berlin and diplomatic couriers to bring them to Leuven in Belgium.
Van Breda also was able to convince Husserl's former assistants,
Eugen Fink and
Ludwig Landgrebe, to collaborate on the editing of these documents in Leuven. At the beginning of
World War II
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 ...
the documents were being kept in the university library in Leuven, which burned to ashes on 17 May 1940. Fortunately, one week before the fire, Van Breda decided to bring the documents to the Higher Institute of Philosophy.
In 1943 the documents were, for safety, distributed over different locations in Leuven, including a shelter in the cellar of the Institute of Philosophy and the
Abbey of Postel. After the war they were brought back to the Institute of Philosophy, where they form the basis for the
Husserliana, the complete works of Edmund Husserl.
For his work on spreading Husserl's work he was awarded an
honoris causa doctorate from the
Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg.
See also
*
Jacques Taminiaux
References
* Toon Horsten, ''De pater en de filosoof. De redding van het Husserl-archief.'' Uitg. Vrijdag, Antwerpen 2018. .
*
External links
Husserl-Archives Leuven
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breda, Herman Van
1911 births
1974 deaths
Flemish scientists
Flemish philosophers
20th-century Belgian Roman Catholic priests
Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni
People from Lier, Belgium
Academic staff of the Université catholique de Louvain
Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Franciscan scholars