- Kevin de Cock
Kevin De Cock , M.D., director of HIV/AIDS, World Health Organization Video | Transcript | Podcast The World Health Organization's Dr. Kevin De Cock talks about the global efforts to stem the spread of HIV and improve access to antiretroviral therapy. Kevin De Cock Biography
- Justine Henin
Justine Henin; (born June 1, 1982 in Liège) is a Belgian professional tennis player from the Walloon region of Belgium. She is the current World No. 1. She has won six Grand Slam singles titles, including four French Open singles titles (four of the last five and the last three, consecutively). She also has won a WTA Tour Championships singles title and the singles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
- Yves Leterme
Yves Camille Désiré Leterme is an incoming Belgian Senator, a former Minister-President of Flanders and Flemish Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. Yves Leterme is favourite to become the next prime minister of Belgium following the 2007 Belgian General Election. He tendered his resignation as Flemish Minister-President on June 26, 2007, and has been succeeded in that position by Kris Peeters.
- George Washington
George Constant Louis Washington (May 1871 - March 29, 1946) was an American inventor and businessman of Anglo-Belgian origin. He is best remembered for his invention of an early instant coffee process and for the company he founded to mass-produce it, the "G. Washington Coffee Company".
- Guy Verhofstadt
Guy Verhofstadt , Prime Minister since July 1999Belgium is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy which evolved after World War II from a unitary state to a federal state. The bicameral Belgian Federal Parliament is composed of the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. The former corresponds to a mix of directly-elected senior politicians and representatives of the communities and regions, while the latter proportionally represents all Belgians older than 18.
- Kim Clijsters
Kim Clijsters (born June 8, 1983) is a retired Belgian tennis player. She is a former World No. 1 ranked player in singles and in doubles. During her professional career, Clijsters won 34 WTA singles titles and 11 WTA doubles titles. She won the U.S. Open singles title in 2005 and the WTA Tour Championships singles title in 2002 and 2003. In doubles, she won the French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2003.
- Will
Willy Maltaite known by the pseudonym Will, was a comics creator and comics artist in the Franco-Belgian tradition. In the genre known in francophone countries as bande dessinée, Will is considered one of "the Gang of 4" (which also included André Franquin, Morris, and Jijé), and a founding member of the Marcinelle school.<small> </small> Over a long association with the comics magazine "Le Journal de Spirou" starting in 1947, Will created, …
- Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen (born on October 15, 1980 in Mol, Belgium) is a professional road bicycle racer and is the 2005 World Road Race Champion. He is considered a single-day road race specialist with a strong finishing sprint. His personality and looks, combined with his successes, also turned him into Belgium's main male sports idol of the mid-2000s.
- Belgian-Born Brigitte
Brigitte is currently working on a documentary about her most remarkable life, and is also focused on her pasion for the conservation of our planet, speaking on issues of global warming and renewable energies. In 1997, Brigitte received the Australian Geographic Award for excellence.
- Olivier Rochus
Olivier Rochus (January 18 1981) is a Belgian tennis player. He was born in Namur, Belgium, and currently resides in Auvelais, Belgium. He was a doubles partner of Roger Federer on the junior circuit. He has won 2 singles titles in his career and achieved a stunning victory in the French Open in 2004 where he won the doubles title partnering fellow Belgian Xavier Malisse. At 1.65m (5' 5") he is the smallest player on the ATP Tour.
- Jacques Brel
Jacques Romain Georges Brel (April 8, 1929 - October 9, 1978) was a Belgian French-speaking singer-songwriter. The quality and style of his lyrics are highly regarded by many leading critics of popular music. Brel's songs are not especially well known in the English-speaking world except through the translations and interpretations of other singers (most famously by Scott Walker),and by David Bowie, …
- Louis Michel
Mr. Louis Michel , European Union Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid
- Eddy Merckx
Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx (born June 17 1945, Meensel-Kiezegem, Vlaams Brabant, Belgium) is a former Belgian professional cyclist. Merckx, regarded as the greatest and most successful cyclist of all time, established several world cycling records, some of which remain unbroken to this day.
- Kristof Vliegen
Kristof Vliegen (born June 22, 1982 in Maaseik) is a Belgian tennis player. He plays right-handed and he turned professional in 2001. He was a semi-finalist in Chennai in 2006 and in May of the same year, he reached the final of the ATP tournament in Munich, setting up the first ever all-Belgian men's singles final against Olivier Rochus. In July, Vliegen reached the second round of Wimbledon.
- Xavier Malisse
Xavier Malisse (born July 19 1980) is a Belgian tennis player known mostly for his enormous right-handed forehand, great power and bad temper. Born in Kortrijk, Belgium, Malisse is considered the biggest Belgian tennis talent on the ATP tour. Malisse was at one time romantically linked to former world number one female tennis player Jennifer Capriati.
- Karel de Gucht
Karel Lodewijk Georgette Emmerence De Gucht (Overmere, 27 january 1954) is the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a former chairman of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD), a Belgian political party and prominent member of the Freemasons. In January 2004 he was forced to step down as chairman and was temporarily replaced until after the elections of June 4 by Dirk Sterckx.
- Kirsten Flipkens
Kirsten Flipkens (born January 10, 1986 in Geel, Belgium) is a professional female Belgian tennis player since 2003. Her career high rank for singles is No. 97 (October 2, 2006). She won 6 ITF Singles titles, and 1 ITF Doubles title. In 2003, Flipkens won the Wimbledon and US Open Girls' Singles events. At the end of the year, she was named ITF Junior World Champion. At the 2006 French Open, Flipkens was playing her first ever Grand Slam tournament.
- Paul Belien
Paul Belien worked as a journalist in Belgium and the Netherlands from 1982 to 1994. Afterward, he founded the classical-liberal, Brussels-based think-tank, Centre for the New Europe. He acted as CNE's first managing director and research director from 1994 to 2000. Belien is editor of the Flemish quarterly Secessie and the editor-in-chief of the pan-European website the Brussels Journal , which he founded in 2005.
- Jean-Claude van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme (born October 18, 1960) is a Belgian-born martial artist and actor who is best known for his large catalogue of action movies. His Belgian background combined with his physique gave rise to his nickname "The Muscles from Brussels". Van Damme has also been called the "King of the Belgians" due to his international superstardom.
- Didier Reynders
Didier Reynders is a Belgian politician and a member of the Mouvement Réformateur (MR). He was born in Liège as the youngest in a family of three children. He studied law at the University of Liège. He is Minister of Finance since 1999 and Deputy Prime Minister since 2004, in the same year he also became the chairman of the MR. Reynders led the MR to a victory in the 2007 election, with the MR becoming the largest Francophone party of Belgium.
- Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was an Academy Award-winning Anglo-Dutch actress of film and theatre, Broadway stage performer, ballerina, fashion model, and humanitarian. Raised under Nazi rule in Arnhem, Netherlands during World War II, Hepburn trained extensively to become a ballerina, before deciding to pursue acting. She first gained notice for her starring role in the Broadway production of "Gigi" (1951). She was then cast in "Roman Holiday" (1953) as Princess Ann, …
- Gert Steegmans
Gert Steegmans (born on September 30, 1980 in Hasselt, Belgium) is a professional road bicycle racer from Belgium. He has a strong finishing sprint and can compete in the sprint with fellow Belgian Cyclist Tom Boonen. He is considered to be one of the stronger riders of the "new generation". He has transferred to the Quick Step-Innergetic team for 2007 to become Tom Boonen's leadout man. (1)
- Kate Ryan
Kate Ryan, born Katrien Verbeeck on July 22, 1980, in Tessenderlo, Belgium to Dutch parents, is a Belgian pop music singer/songwriter.
- Victor Horta
Victor Horta was a Belgian architect and designer. John Julius Norwich described him as "undoubtedly the key European Art Nouveau architect." Indeed, Horta is one of the most important names in Art Nouveau architecture; the construction of his Hôtel Tassel in Brussels in 1892-3 means that he is sometimes credited as the first to introduce the style to architecture from the decorative arts.
- René Magritte
René François Ghislain Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and amusing images
- Ai Sugiyama
Ai Sugiyama is a Japanese professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1992. In her career so far, she has won 6 singles titles and 33 doubles titles, including three Grand Slam women's doubles titles (1 with Frenchwoman Julie Halard-Decugis and 2 partnering Belgian Kim Clijsters). Coached by her mother, Ai plays a more aggressive game than her predecessor Kimiko Date, using her fitness and speed, as well as aggressive serve and volley whenever feasible.
- Martin Margiela
Martin Margiela (born April 9, 1957 in Leuven, Belgium) is a Belgian fashion designer. He studied at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts, graduated 1980 and worked as a freelance designer for five years after graduation. Between 1985 and 1987 he worked for Jean Paul Gaultier, before showing his first collection under his own label in 1988. Margiela has a store in the West Village in New York City and also sells at Barneys. In his store, salespeople wear white lab coats.
- Stijn Devolder
Stijn Devolder (born 29 August, 1979 in Kortrijk, West Flanders) is a professional road bicycle racer from Belgium. He currently rides for the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team on the UCI ProTour. Devolder won his first professional race at the 2004 Four Days of Dunkirk, winning stage 4. His most prestigous victories to date were the 2005 Three Days of De Panneand the 2007 Belgian Road Race Championship.
- Jacques Rogge
Count Jacques Rogge (born May 2, 1942 in Ghent, Belgium) is by profession an orthopedic surgeon. He is the eighth president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Born in Ghent, Dr. Count Rogge competed in yachting in the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics, and played on the Belgian national rugby union team. Rogge served as president of the Belgian Olympic Committee from 1989 to 1992, and as president of the European Olympic Committees from 1989 to 2001.
- Dries van Noten
Dries van Noten (1958-) is a Belgian fashion designer. He was born into a family of tailors; his father owned a menswear shop and his grandfather was a tailor. He studied at the Antwerp Fashion Academy where he graduated in 1980. His career as a designer took off in 1986 when he presented his first menswear collection in London, together with five other Belgian designers ("The Antwerp Six"). He currently creates four collections a year (men's and women's, …
- Django Reinhardt
Jean "Django" Reinhardt. His name is pronounced
- Paolo Bettini
Paolo Bettini is an Italian road cyclist with the Belgian Quick Step-Innergetic professional cycling team. He is the gold medal winner of the 2004 Athens Olympics road race and of the 2006 World Road Race Championship. Bettini is a 3-time champion of the UCI Road World Cup series consecutively in 2002, 2003 and 2004. He has also won stages of the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España. He finished in 9th place at the 2000 Summer Olympics, …
- Belle Perez
Maribel Pérez, best known by her stage name Belle Perez, is a Belgian musician and songwriter. Born in Neerpelt to Spanish parents as María Isabelle Pérez Cerezo. The 31 year old Belgian singer was discovered for her musical talents by her current manager Patrick Renier at a local talent show. In 1999 she participated in the Belgian preselections of the Eurovision Song Contest and from then on Belle's career in music took off.
- Phil Hill
Philip Toll Hill Jr. is the only American-born driver to win the Formula One driving championship. Raised in Santa Monica, California, where he still lives, Phil Hill began racing cars at an early age, going to England as a Jaguar trainee in 1949 and signing with Enzo Ferrari’s team in 1956. He made his debut in the French Grand Prix at Reims France in 1958 driving a Maserati. That same year, he won the 24 hours of Le Mans with Belgian team mate Olivier Gendebien, …
- Freddy Loix
Freddy Loix is a Belgian rally driver, born 10 November 1970 in Tongeren, Belgium. Loix’s career in motor sport began in karting at the age of 15. In 1990, he bought his first rally car, a Lancia Delta group N, though he soon progressed to a Mitsubishi Galant Group N. 1993 saw a big step forward in Loix's career as he became part of the Marlboro World Championship Team driving an Opel Astra and he became the Belgian F2-champion.
- Johan Bruyneel
Johan Bruyneel (born August 23 1964, Izegem, Belgium) is a directeur sportif and former road bicycle racer in professional cycling. Retiring from racing in 1998, he is now best known as the director of Team Discovery (formerly U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team), a US-based UCI ProTour cycling team. Bruyneel is known to speak five languages to communicate with the cyclists of diverse nationalities on the team.
- Sven Nys
Sven Nys (June 17 1976, in Bonheiden, near Antwerp, Belgium) is a professional cyclist who has won his most important victories in cyclo-cross races. Sven began racing BMX at the age of 8. He won eight BMX National titles before switching his focus to cyclocross and road racing. In 2005 he became the first cyclo-crosser to achieve the Grand Slam: he won both championships, ended as #1 at the UCI Rankings and won the Superprestige and the GvA Trophy.
- Christophe Rochus
Christophe Rochus (born December 15, 1978, Namur) is a professional male tennis player from Belgium. He is the older brother of Olivier Rochus, also a tennis player.
- Axelle Red
Axelle Red was born Fabienne Demal in Hasselt, Flanders, Belgium, on 15 February 1968. She is a singer-songwriter. Despite being Flemish, she chose to write and perform songs in the French language. She has achieved great critical success in both Belgium and France. Her musical style varies from jazz to piano ballads. Her musical idols as a youth were the pop group ABBA.
- Marc Dutroux
Marc Dutroux (born 6 November 1956 in Brussels) is a Belgian criminal, convicted of having, in 1995 and 1996, kidnapped, tortured and sexually abused six girls, ranging in age from 8 to 19, four of whom he murdered. He was also convicted of having killed a suspected former accomplice, Bernard Weinstein. He was arrested in 1996 and has been in prison since then. His widely publicised trial took place in 2004.