Jan Roegiers (1944–2013) was a professor at the

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its main camp ...

, and also university archivist, librarian and curator. He specialised in

early modern The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

academic history, and in particular the history of the pre-1797 University of Leuven. During his lifetime he was "generally regarded as one of the most authoritative voices in the world of academic history, archive and library science and the heritage sector in Belgium." He is also credited with giving the newly established Flemish university (an independent institution only from 1968) a sense of historical continuity with Leuven's past.

Early life

Jan Roegiers was born in Sleidinge,

East Flanders East Flanders ( ; ; ; ) is a Provinces of Belgium, province of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the North) the Netherlands, Dutch province of Zeeland and the Belgian provinces of Antwerp (province), Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut (provinc ...

, on 19 October 1944. He attended the Sint-Vincentiuscollege in Eeklo and from there entered the diocesan seminary in Ghent. After a short time in the seminary he enrolled at the

, where he completed degrees in History and in library and archive science.

Academic career

He became a senior lecturer in the faculty of Arts and the faculty of Theology, chief archivist of the university (1975–2009), head of Leuven University Library (1981–1996), and curator of the university's art collection (1983–2009). He was director of the ''

Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique ''Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique'' is a peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of ecclesiastical history. Independent third-party sources have described it as "The best international church-historical journal".James E. Bradley ...

'' (1990-2009), chair of the editorial board of '' LIAS: Journal of Early Modern Intellectual Culture and its Sources'' (1993-2009), and chair of the editorial board of ''

Trajecta ''Trajecta: Religion, Culture and Society in the Low Countries'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal for the history of religion in the Low Countries (Belgium and the Netherlands). History ''Trajecta'' was founded in 1992, initially as a ...

'' (1998-2009). He was a moving influence on the early stages of the Flemish short-title catalogue (STCV). Roegiers gave his valedictory lecture, on academic heritage and university history, on 19 February 2010. On the same occasion he was presented with a

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

celebrating his career, ''The Quintessence of Lives: Intellectual Biographies in the Low Countries presented to Jan Roegiers'', edited by P. Delsaerdt, H. Schwall, D. Vanysacker, and J.-P. Delville (Brepols, 2010). His retirement was marked with a special exhibition in Leuven University's Central Library, ''Anima Academiae Bibliotheca'', from 10 June to 25 August 2010. Roegiers died on 12 July 2013 and was buried on 19 July in the Sint-Jan-de-Doperkerk in Leuven. The reading room of the university archive was named "Jan Roegiers reading room" in his memory. His rich library went to KU Leuven Libraries after his death.

Publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roegiers, Jan 1944 births 2013 deaths Academic librarians Belgian archivists 20th-century Belgian historians KU Leuven alumni Academic staff of KU Leuven People from Evergem 21st-century Belgian historians