1908 in Belgium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following lists events that happened during 1908 in the Kingdom of Belgium.
Incumbents
Events

- 9 January â Frans Schollaert formally takes office as prime minister, after the sudden death of Jules de Trooz at the end of the previous year.[1]
- 19 April â Confédération syndicale belge organization is founded.
- 24 May â Partial legislative elections
- 25 May â Parliament ratifies the 1907 copyright convention with Germany.[2]
- 14 June â Provincial elections
- 10 July â Paul Van Asbroeck wins a gold medal at the 1908 Olympic Games
- 30 September â Premiere of Maurice Maeterlinck's The Blue Bird at the Moscow Art Theatre
- 18 October â Belgian Parliament passes the Colonial Charter on the Belgian annexation of the Congo Free State.[3]
- 30 October â Cabinet reshuffle with Jules Renkin becoming first Minister for Colonies
- 15 November â Congo Free State becomes Belgian Congo
- 22 November â Tobacco Workers' Union established
Publications
- Ãmile de Borchgrave, Souvenirs diplomatiques de quarante ans (Brussels)
- Fernand Crommelynck, Le sculpteur de masques (Brussels, Edmond Deman)
- Stijn Streuvels, Tieghem: Het Vlaamsche lustoord (Ghent, Vercauteren)
- Joseph Van den Gheyn, Catalogue des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, vol. 8.[4]
- Emile Verhaeren, James Ensor (Brussels, G. Van Oest)
- Periodicals
- L'Expansion belge begins publication.[5]
Art and architecture

- Buildings
- Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk, Ostend (begun 1899)
- Films
- Durch Brüssel in 10 Minuten (9-minute documentary).[6]
Births
- 2 January â André Verbeke, architect (died 1978)
- 23 January â Stanislas-André Steeman, writer (died 1970)
- 14 March â Joseph André, priest (died 1973)
- 14 May â Jules Lismonde, artist (died 2001)
- 20 September â Simon Dewinter, boxer (died 1972)
- 4 October â Celeste van Exem, missionary (died 1993)
- 16 November â Emmanuelle Cinquin, religious sister (died 2008)
- 24 November â Hubert Ansiaux, banker (died 1987)
- 28 November â Claude Lévi-Strauss, anthropologist (died 2009)
Deaths
- 4 February â Albert Lancaster (born 1849), meteorologist
- 6 February â Jan Portielje (born 1829), painter
- 22 February â Ãdouard van den Corput (born 1821), physician
- 10 May â Eugène Lafont (born 1837), missionary
- 5 June â Jef Lambeaux (born 1852), sculptor
- 21 June â LuÃs Cruls (born 1848), astronomer
- 19 June â Louis van Waefelghem (born 1840), viola d'amore player
- 4 August â Piet Verhaert (born 1852), painter
- 24 December â François-Auguste Gevaert (born 1828), musicologist
