Raoul Warocqué
Encyclopedia
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
industrialist of Wallonia. Raoul was the great-grandson of Nicolas Warocqué, the founder of the Warocqué-dynasty. His father was Arthur Warocqué, (1835 –1880), a promotor of Belgian horticulture, after whom the arum
Araceae
Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe or leaf-like bract. Also known as the Arum family, members are often colloquially...
Anthurium warocqueanum was named.
He made the coal mines of Mariemont
Morlanwelz
Morlanwelz is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006 Morlanwelz had a total population of 18,595. The total area is 20.26 km² which gives a population density of 918 inhabitants per km²...
successful, and at 21 years of age had established a considerable fortune.
A careful investment policy made him the richest man in Belgium at the beginning of the 20th century. His industrial ventures were numerous, such as in the coal mines of Campine
Campine
The Campine is a natural region situated chiefly in north-eastern Belgium and parts of the south-western Netherlands which once consisted mainly of extensive moors, tracts of sandy heath, and wetlands...
as well as in other industrial sectors including Clabecq
Clabecq
Clabecq is part of the Walloon municipality of Tubize , located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant.It was formerly its own municipality until the period of fusion of Belgian municipalities in 1977....
, Gas and Electricity of Hainaut, railroads and coal mines in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, tobacco in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, and others.
As an industrialist, he was a philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
and a paternalist
Paternalism
Paternalism refers to attitudes or states of affairs that exemplify a traditional relationship between father and child. Two conditions of paternalism are usually identified: interference with liberty and a beneficent intention towards those whose liberty is interfered with...
. Raoul Warocqué was a freemason of the Grand Orient of Belgium
Grand Orient of Belgium
The Grand Orient of Belgium The Grand Orient of Belgium The Grand Orient of Belgium (French: Grand Orient de Belgique, Dutch: Grootoosten van Belgie (G.O.B.) is a Belgian cupola of masonic lodges which is only accessible for men, and works in the basic three symbolic degrees of freemasonry.-History:...
, Belgian patriot
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
and a royalist. At the Universite Libre de Bruxelles
Université Libre de Bruxelles
The Université libre de Bruxelles is a French-speaking university in Brussels, Belgium. It has 21,000 students, 29% of whom come from abroad, and an equally cosmopolitan staff.-Name:...
(ULB), he participated in the Jeune Garde libérale (Young Liberal Guard). In Mariemont
Mariemont
Mariemont may refer to:* Mariemont, California, in El Dorado County* Mariemont, Ohio, planned community in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States* Mariemont, Belgium, former hunting estate created in 1546 by Queen Mary of Hungary...
and in Hainaut, he founded liberal organizations.
As a politician he was mayor of Morlanwelz
Morlanwelz
Morlanwelz is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006 Morlanwelz had a total population of 18,595. The total area is 20.26 km² which gives a population density of 918 inhabitants per km²...
and liberal deputy of Thuin
Thuin
Thuin is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. The Thuin municipality includes the old communes of Leers-et-Fosteau, Biesme-sous-Thuin, Ragnies, Biercée, Gozée, Donstiennes, and Thuillies.-Origins:...
. He supported bills favorable to the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
, while at the same time he was opposed to the right to strike. His most noted interventions relate to Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
, the military service, compulsory education and of course the coal mines. As a philanthropist, he created open dormitories in Brussels (1891), which distributed soup and of bread to the poor. He supported the ULB, the Ecole des Mines (E: School of the Mines), and founded the Institut commercial (E:Commercial Institute) (Warocqué) in Mons
Mons
Mons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. The Mons municipality includes the old communes of Cuesmes, Flénu, Ghlin, Hyon, Nimy, Obourg, Baudour , Jemappes, Ciply, Harmignies, Harveng, Havré, Maisières, Mesvin, Nouvelles,...
as well as the Athénée du Centre (Central Athenaeum) in Morlanwelz
Morlanwelz
Morlanwelz is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006 Morlanwelz had a total population of 18,595. The total area is 20.26 km² which gives a population density of 918 inhabitants per km²...
, an orphanage, a childcare facility, a maternity hospital, and so on.
He is also one of the financiers of the World Fair of Brussels (1897
Brussels International (1897)
The Brussels International Exposition of 1897 was a World's Fair held in Brussels, Belgium, from May 10, 1897 through November 8, 1897...
and 1910) and of Charleroi
Charleroi
Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...
(1911). He fell ill and died during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, in 1917.