Leonard Pierre Joseph, Viscount du Bus de Gisignies (Mouscron

Mouscron

Mouscron is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. The Mouscron municipality includes the old communes of Dottignies , Luingne, and Herseaux .-Middle Ages:...

 (Hainaut), 1 March 1770 – Oostmalle

Oostmalle

Oostmalle is a village which is located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The village itself is part of the municipality of Malle.Oostmalle was an independent municipality until 1976. It has a surface area of 28.27 km² and in 2004 had 6,510 inhabitants....

, 31 May 1849) was a soldier and politician in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands

United Kingdom of the Netherlands

United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...

. He was born as Leonard Pierre Joseph Dubus, but on 14 June 1822, because of name multiplication, du Bus de Gisignies was added to his name. On 20 September 1816, he was raised to Dutch nobility and on 22 May 1819 he became a Viscount

Viscount

A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...

.

Personal life

He married twice (his first wife, Marie-Catherine de Deurwaerder, died on 23 June 1836, he remarried with Marie-Antoinette van der Gracht de Fretin on 20 November 1839). He had 1 daughter and 5 sons from his first marriage: Clémentine-Cathérine-François (Bruges

Bruges

Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....

, 7 August 1803-Kortrijk

Kortrijk

Kortrijk ; , ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province West Flanders...

, 18 October 1817), Knight Gustave-Bernard-Joseph (Bruges

Bruges

Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....

, 5 May 1807-Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, 23 September 1831), Bernard-Aimé-Léonard

Bernard du Bus de Gisignies

Jonkheer Bernard Aimé Léonard du Bus de Gisignies was a Dutch nobleman and later on a Belgian politician, ornithologist and paleontologist. He was the second son of Leonard Pierre Joseph du Bus de Gisignies...

 (Sint-Joost-ten-Node, June 21, 1808 - Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, July 6, 1874), Viscount Albéric (Tournai

Tournai

Tournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....

, 30 May 1810-Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, 26 July 1874), Baron Chrétien-Henri-Honoré-Léonard (Kortrijk

Kortrijk

Kortrijk ; , ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province West Flanders...

, 17 September 1819-Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, 9 June 1835), Viscount Constantin-Léonard-Anne-Francois-Marie-Joseph (Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, 11 October 1823-Sint-Joost-ten-Node, 16 November 1850).

Career

He studied law at Douai

Douai

-Main sights:Douai's ornate Gothic style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower. The 80 m high structure includes an impressive carillon, consisting of 62 bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391 were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying...

, but did not finish his education. He served in the French army from 1802 until 1815. On 21 September 1815, in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands

United Kingdom of the Netherlands

United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...

, he became a member of the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands

States-General of the Netherlands

The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...

 for the province of West Flanders and became its President during the meeting year 1818-1819. Afterwards he had several administrative functions, first of all as Governor of the province of Antwerp

Antwerp (province)

Antwerp is the northernmost province both of the Flemish Region, also called Flanders, and of Belgium. It borders on the Netherlands and the Belgian provinces of Limburg, Flemish Brabant and East Flanders. Its capital is Antwerp which comprises the Port of Antwerp...

 (3 April 1820 - March 1823) and from 25 March 1823 up to 9 May 1828 of the province of Zuid-Brabant (E: South-Brabant).

From 4 February 1826 up to 16 January 1830 he was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies

The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies represented the Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949.The first Governors-General were appointed by the Dutch East India Company...

 (Dutch: Commissaris-Generaal) of the Dutch East Indies

Dutch East Indies

The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....

, for which he received an annual wages of 200,000 Guilders, with the condition that he retained his function of governor of Zuid-Brabant. On 9 May 1828 he was appointed as Minister of State, but after the Belgian Revolution

Belgian Revolution

The Belgian Revolution was the conflict which led to the secession of the Southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium....

 he was removed from this office on 18 October 1830. On 6 October 1830, he bought Renesse Castle in Oostmalle

Oostmalle

Oostmalle is a village which is located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The village itself is part of the municipality of Malle.Oostmalle was an independent municipality until 1976. It has a surface area of 28.27 km² and in 2004 had 6,510 inhabitants....

from Count Clement-Wenceslas de Renesse-Breidbach and renovated the castle in Empire style.

He was knighted (24 November 1816) and a commander (20 July 1823) in the order of the Dutch Lion, and received on 6 July 1830 the cross in the same order.

Sources

• Bart De Prins, Léonard Du Bus de Gisignies (1780–1849), Belgian Commissioner-general in the Dutch East Indies: A Reassessment, Itnerario, 2000.
• Bart de Prins, Voor Keizer en Koning, Leonard du Bus de Gisignies 1780 - 1849, Commissaris-Generaal van Nederlands-Indië, ISBN 9050185770
• L.P.J. burggraaf du Bus de Gisignies