The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium

Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts

The Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels is an art school, founded in 1711.The faculty and alumni of ARBA include some of the most famous names in Belgian painting, sculpture, and architecture: James Ensor, Rene Magritte, and Paul Delvaux...

in Brussels, a separate institution

There are two Royal Academies for Science and the Arts in Belgium

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...

, corresponding to the two main languages of the country, Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

(Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

) and French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

(Wallonia). The Academies are located in the Palace of Academies

Palace of Academies

The rather austere neoclassical Academy Palace , in Brussels, establishes the harmonious ensemble of the capital's Place Royale/Koningsplein and the Brussels Park....

in 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...

.

L'Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique is the older, being first so named in 1845. The Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten was founded in 1938 by Julius Hoste Jr.

Julius Hoste Jr.

Julius Hoste Jr. , was a Belgian businessman and liberal politician.He went to highschool at the Koninklijk Atheneum of Brussels. In 1902 he started at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles , where he obtained a law degree in 1907. Already as a student he had become interested in the Flemish movement,...

. Both societies have created an umbrella organisation, The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB), which is responsible for coordinating the national and international activities of the Academies, such as the National Scientific Committees and the representation of Belgium in international scientific organizations such as IAP, ALLEA, ICSU and EASAC.

The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB)

www.rasab.be

The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium association (RASAB) was founded in 2001 by the Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, the French speaking academy of Belgium, and the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten, the Dutch speaking academy of Belgium.

The Royal Academies’ mission is to promote sciences and arts in Belgium. To realize this demand, the Academies organize scientific and cultural activities, they attempt to create cooperation between universities of Belgium, they ensure the Belgian representation in international organizations, they are pushing scientists to make recommendations to government, industry, research and education institutions and offer prizes to artists and researchers. For all these initiatives, the academies can rely on their members, representatives of the scientific, industrial and cultural community.

RASAB is responsible for coordinating the national and international activities of the Academies, such as the National Scientific Committees and the representation of Belgium in international scientific organizations such as IAP, ALLEA, ICSU and EASAC.

Mention must be made of the following joint initiatives of the Academies: the Royal Commission on History, the Royal Commission on Dialectology and Toponymy and the Royal Belgian Academy Council of Applied Sciences (BACAS).
The Academies also publish a National Biography - each in its own language - and are members of the Union Académique internationale (UAI), which has its administrative seat at the Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique since 1919

Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique (ARB)

www.academieroyale.be

This institution, founded in 1769 as the “Société littéraire de Bruxelles”, was transformed into an Academy - the «Académie impériale et royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Bruxelles » - on 16 December 1772 by the Empress Marie-Thérèse. On 1 December 1845, King Leopold I of Belgium conferred new statutes which clearly separated the Classes of the Academy and gave the Academy its current name.

The « Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts of Belgium” is composed by 4 Classes : Science, Letters and Moral and Political Sciences, Arts and Technology and Society. Each Class has 50 members and 50 associated members.

Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten (KVAB)

www.kvab.be

This institution was founded by the Royal Decree of 16 March 1938. New statutes and a new name were signed by His Majesty King Albert II in 1998 (Royal Decree of December 2, 1998).

The “Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten” is composed by 4 Classes: Natural Sciences, Humanities, Arts and Technical Sciences. Each Class has 40 to 50 members.

The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB)

Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique (ARB)

Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten (KVAB)

External links

See also