Lodewijk De Raet (;

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, 17 February 1870 –

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

, 24 November 1914) was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He played an important role in the Flemish movement. He was co-founder of the ''Vlaamsche volkspartij'' (1892), and was a proponent of the use of Dutch instead of French at the University of Ghent in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

(north part of

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

). He believed that the economic development of Flanders was necessary for the political and cultural strengthening of the region. His motto was: ''taalbelang is stoffelijk belang'' (English: helinguistic concern is material concern). Already as a teenager in highschool Lodewijk De Raet showed a commitment for the ''Flemish cause''. Together with August Vermeylen he started the illustrated magazine ''Jong Vlaanderen'' (E: Young Flanders) and he had been involved in the establishment of ''De Vlaamsche Wacht'' (E: Flemish guard), an organization of

Flemings The Flemish or Flemings ( nl, Vlamingen ) are a Germanic ethnic group native to Flanders, Belgium, who speak Dutch. Flemish people make up the majority of Belgians, at about 60%. "''Flemish''" was historically a geographical term, as all i ...

. In this organization Lodewijk De Raet developed his economic program for the development of Flanders. In the meantime he studied, thanks to the support of Emiel Blauwaert, a friend of its deceased father, at the École polytechnique of the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Here he became a member of the student group ''Geen Taal Geen Vrijheid'' (E: no language, no freedom), and he was a member of the Femish liberal (

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficie ...

) student organization. As a student Lodewijk De Raet became convinced that economy and education had a strong link. In order to be able to compete economically with other regions and to acquire a sufficiently strong position to be able preserve their economic independence, the Flemish people must have ''intellectual tools'', such as a Flemish university. Together with its friends of ''Geen Taal Geen Vrijheid'' he created a Flemish ''University Extension''. In 1899, he graduated in economic sciences at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles. In the same period he had been involved in the establishment of the Flemish society ''Eendracht is Macht'' and the Flemish publication ''Schild en Vriend'' (E: shield and friend). Beside all this he became an employee of the ' Institut of sociology' of Ernest Solvay. In 1903, he started a campaign to introduce Flemish at the University of Ghent, which was accepted in 1906. On 31 March 1911, the bill for the use of Flemish at the University of Ghent, was submitted to the Belgian parliament by Frans Van Cauwelaert, Louis Franck and Camille Huysmans. In 1912 Lodewijk De Raet obtained a PhD in economic sciences at the ''Solvay Sociology Institute''. Lodewijk De Raet died some months later and he would not witness the introduction of Flemish at the University of Ghent in 1930. In 1952, the Foundation Lodewijk De Raet was founded, which is a foundation for education of adults.

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Lodewijk De Raet
(Dutch) * Max Lamberty, ''Lodewijk De Raet. Een levensbeeld, publ. Heideland, 1961

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*
Stichting Lodewijk De Raet
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Raet, Lodewijk 1870 births 1914 deaths Flemish activists Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni

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