Charles Rogier

Charles Rogier
Prime Minister of Belgium
In office 9 November 1857 – 3 January 1868
Monarch	Leopold I Leopold II
Preceded by	Pierre de Decker
Succeeded by	Walthère Frère-Orban
In office 12 August 1847 – 31 October 1852
Monarch	Leopold I
Preceded by	Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt
Succeeded by	Henri de Brouckère
In office 24 September 1830 – 25 February 1831 Acting
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Etienne Constantin de Gerlache
President of the Chamber of Representatives
In office 1 August 1878 – 13 November 1878
Preceded by	Xavier Victor Thibaut
Succeeded by	Jules Guillery
Personal details
Born	17 August 1800(1800-08-17) Saint-Quentin, France
Died	27 May 1885(1885-05-27) (aged 84) Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium
Political party	Liberal Party
Alma mater	University of Liège

Charles Latour Rogier (17 August 1800–27 May 1885) was a Belgian liberal statesman and a leader in the Belgian Revolution of 1830. He became Prime Minister of Belgium on two separate occasions: from 1847 to 1852, and again from 1857 to 1868.

Rogier à la tête des volontaires de Liège - Rogier at the head of the Liège volunteers (Charles Soubre, 1878)

Rogier descended from a family settled in the department of the Nord in France. He was born at Saint-Quentin. His father, an officer in the French army, perished in the Russian campaign of 1812. The family then moved to the Belgian city of Liege, where the eldest son, Firmin, held a professorship. Rogier studied law at the University of Liège (ULg) and was admitted to the bar. However, he devoted himself with greater zeal to journalistic campaigns against Dutch rule in Belgium. In 1824, in collaboration with his lifelong friends Paul Devaux and Joseph Lebeau, he founded the journal Mathieu Laensberg (afterwards Le Politique). With its ardent patriotism and its attacks on the Dutch administration, the journal soon achieved widespread influence.

On the outbreak of the insurrection at Brussels in August 1830, Rogier went there with a militia of about 300 citizens of Liège. In Brussels he gained recognition as one of the most active among the patriot leaders. He became a member of the provisional government established in October of the same year, and after the election of Leopold as King in June 1831, he was made Governor of Antwerp. During his first stint as Interior Minister, from 1832 to 1834, he brought into existence the Belgian railway system. From 1840 to 1841 he was Minister of Public Works and Education, and from 1861 to 1868 he served as Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Today, one of central Brussels' landmarks, the Place Rogier, commemorates his name.

Famous quotes

• La Belgique sera Latine ou elle ne sera pas. — "Belgium will be Latin or it won't be."
• On establishing a French speaking government:

  Les premiers principes d’une bonne administration sont basés sur l’emploi exclusif d’une langue et il est évident, que la seule langue des Belges doit être le Français. Pour arriver à ce résultat, il est nécessaire que toutes les fonctions, civiles et militaires, soient confiées pour quelques temps à des Wallons; de cette manière les Flamands, privés temporairement des avantages attachés à ces emplois, seront contraint d’apprendre le Français et l’on détruira, peu à peu l’élément germanique en Belgique.

  — "The first principles of a good administration are based upon the exclusive use of one language, and it is evident that the only language of the Belgians should be French. In order to achieve this result, it is necessary that all civil and military functions are entrusted to Walloons and Luxemburgers; this way, the Flemish, temporarily deprived of the advantages of these offices, will be constrained to learn French, and we will hence destroy bit by bit the Germanic element in Belgium."

See also

• List of Prime Ministers of Belgium
• Liberalism in Belgium

Publications

• Descailles, Charles Rogier, 1800-85 (Brussels, 1896)

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.

Political offices
New office	Prime Minister of Belgium Acting 1830–1831	Succeeded by Etienne Constantin de Gerlache
Preceded by Jean-François Tielemans	Governor of Antwerp 1831–1840	Succeeded by Henri de Brouckère
Preceded by Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt	Prime Minister of Belgium 1847–1852
Preceded by Pierre de Decker	Prime Minister of Belgium 1857–1868	Succeeded by Walthère Frère-Orban
Preceded by Xavier Victor Thibaut	President of the Chamber of Representatives 1878	Succeeded by Jules Guillery