Paul Danblon (25 July 1931 – 8 February 2018) was a Belgian composer, opera director and administrator, and journalist. He was one of the pioneers of scientific journalism on

RTBF The ("Belgian Radio-television of the French Community"), shortened to RTBF (branded as rtbf.be), is a public broadcasting, public service broadcaster for the French Community of Belgium, French-speaking Community of Belgium. Its counterpart i ...

(Radio télévision belge de la communauté française). In 1954, after graduating in chemistry from the

Université libre de Bruxelles The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...

, Danblon joined the RTBF current events programme, ''Carnets de l'Actualité''. He went on to specialize in producing and presenting

popular science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

programmes such as ''La Bouteille à encre'', ''Connaître'', and ''Le point de la médecine''. He is the author of two books in the area: *''150 ans de sciences (1830–1980) '' (Paul Legrain, Brussels, 1980) *''L'espace'' (Lombard, Brussels, 1964) Danblon has also had a parallel career in the arts. He studied composition at the

Brussels Conservatory The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (, ) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Providing performing music and drama courses, the institution became renowned par ...

with

Jean Absil Jean Absil (23 October 1893 – 2 February 1974) was a Belgium, Belgian composer, organist, and professor at the Brussels Conservatory, Brussels Conservatoire. Biography Absil was born in Bonsecours, Hainaut (province), Hainaut, Belgium. His teac ...

and

Marcel Quinet Marcel Alfred Quinet (6 July 1915 – 16 December 1986) was a Belgian composer and pianist. He studied at the Mons Conservatory briefly and then the Brussels Conservatory, where he obtained prizes for harmony in 1936, counterpoint in 1937, fu ...

. His first work, a

piano concerto A piano concerto, a type of concerto, is a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for piano accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuosic showpieces which require an advance ...

, premiered in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in 1954. His other compositions include: *''Les Troyennes'' (1954) -

Oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

to a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

by Jean Le Paillot *''Cyrano de Bergerac'' (1980) -

Opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

composed for the 150th anniversary of the creation of the Belgian state, with

Gabriel Bacquier Gabriel Bacquier (; 17 May 1924 – 13 May 2020) was a French operatic baritone. One of the leading baritones of the 20th century and particularly associated with the French and Italian repertoires, he was considered a fine singing actor equ ...

in the title role. He joined the

Opéra Royal de Wallonie The Opéra royal de Wallonie (, ) is an opera house located on the Place de l'Opéra, in Liège, Belgium. Together with La Monnaie and the Vlaamse Opera, the ''Opéra royal'', as it is colloquially known, is one of the three major opera houses ...

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

as a stage director in 1974, and in 1990 wrote the text for a musical entertainment performed by the company, ''Divertimento doux-amer de Mademoiselle Mozart''. In 1992, he became the General Director of the Opéra Wallonie, a post he held until 1996. A prominent member of the Belgian

Laïcité (; 'secularism') is the constitutional principle of secularism in France. Article 1 of the French Constitution is commonly interpreted as the separation of civil society and religious society. It discourages religious involvement in governmen ...

movement, he is the founder and president of the Centre Laïque de l'Audiovisuel. His book, ''Au bonheur de vivre: libres propos d'un mécréant'' (Éditions Complexe, 1999), traces the evolution of his religious philosophy which began with devout

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and evolved into

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...

.RTBF (12 November 2000) He has also written many articles and essays in this area, including: *"La laïcité et les médias", ''La Pensée et les Hommes'', 1985, pp. 66–75. *"Le rationalisme est-il en crise?", ''La Pensée et les Hommes'', 1991, pp. 153–159. *"Europe, terre d'humanisme... De quel droit ", ''Espace de Liberté'', 1997, pp. 17–28. *"Des souris et des hommes", ''Belgique: toujours grande et belle'', 1999, pp. 219–224.

References

''Noms de dieux: Paul Danblon''
12 November 2000 (in French). Accessed 23 January 2009.

extract from ''Cent Wallons du siècle'', Institut Jules Destrée, Charleroi, 1995 (in French). Accessed 23 January 2009.

La Maison Internationale de la Poésie (in French), Accessed 23 January 2009. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Danblon, Paul 1931 births 2018 deaths Belgian composers Belgian male composers Belgian male musicians Belgian journalists Belgian male journalists Science journalists Opera managers