Charles Bracht
Belgian alpine skier
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baron Charles Victor Bracht (7 January 1915 – 7 March 1978) was a Belgian businessman who founded the multinational industrial conglomerate, N.V. Bracht-Aegis and became one of the wealthiest men in Europe. He was formerly an alpine skier who competed in the men's combined event at the 1936 Winter Olympics.[1] With the creation of Bracht-Aegis, he became a wealthy businessman and was kidnapped in 1978. His body was found with a bullet wound to the head.[1]
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Born | 7 January 1915 Bloemendaal, Netherlands |
| Died | 7 March 1978 (aged 63) Oelegem, Belgium |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Alpine skiing |
Early life
Bracht was born on 7 January 1915 into a wealthy Antwerp family. He was a son of Victor Théodore Bracht (1883–1962) and Dorothée Emilie Bunge (1889–1918).
His maternal grandfather was the Belgian businessman Edouard Bunge of Bunge Limited.[2]
Career
Bracht became one of the wealthiest industrialists in Europe,[3] by running a multinational corporation "dealing in commodities, property, banking, insurance and construction. His companies had interests in Zaire, the former Belgian Congo; Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, Brazil and in West European countries. He also controlled a bank in Antwerp and was involved in an Antwerp insurance concern, Bracht-Regis."[4][5]
Bracht was created a Baron in 1967 for his services to industry.[4]
Personal life
On 11 November 1941, he married Geneviève Marie Joséphine de Hemptinne (1916–2010) in Sint-Denijs-Westrem. She was the daughter of Charles de Hemptinne and the former Jeanne Marie Joséphine Surmont de Volsberghe. Together, they were the parents of:[4]
- Théodore Jean Charles Bracht (b. 1942), who became chairman of Bracht & Company.[6]
- Marianne Ghislaine Bracht (b. 1945), who married Albert de Limburg-Stirum, a grandson of Thierry, Count of Limburg Stirum.[4][7]
- Thérèse Marie Ghislaine Bracht, who married Daniel Janssens.[4]
- Réginne Anna Maria Bracht.
Death
Bracht was kidnapped from his car in an underground garage in Antwerp on 7 March 1978. He was found dead in a garbage dump on 10 April 1978 and his autopsy showed he had "succumbed to injuries apparently suffered while trying to resist the kidnappers."[4] At the time, he was the second Belgian nobleman to be kidnapped that year, the first being Baron Edouard-Jean Empain, who had been abducted in Paris but was released months later.[8]
