VERHAEGEN, PIERRETHÉODORE

(1796-1862)

The son of a member of the Council ofBrabant, Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen was born in Brussels on 5 September 1796. Following the establishment of a Catholic university atMechelenin 1834, Verhaegen was the moving force in securing support from liberals and freemasons to found theUniversité libre de Bruxellesthe same year. He served the new university on the board of directors and as a professor of trade law. A doctrinaire liberal and fiercely anticlerical, although not irreligious, he served as chairman of the Association libérale, established under his impetus in 1847. He entered politics in 1825 asburgomasterofWatermael-Boitsfortand he later served as a deputy for Brussels in the Chamber of Representatives (1848-1852 and 1857-1859). Verhaegen died in Brussels on 8 December 1862.