Profile

Hervé Hasquin (b. December 31, 1942, Charleroi, Belgium) is a Belgian historian, university professor, and public figure, with a distinguished career in both academia and politics.

He earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in Philosophy and Letters from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), where he began his academic career as a lecturer in 1970. Between 1982 and 1986, he served as Rector of ULB, followed by the presidency of its Board of Governors from 1986 to 1995.

Actively engaged in Belgian political life between 1987 and 2007, he held positions as senator, deputy, and, from 1999 to 2004, Minister-President of the French Community of Belgium, with responsibilities for international relations and equal opportunities.

A prolific author, he has published dozens of books and hundreds of scientific articles on the 18th and 19th centuries, Wallonia, religion, and nationalism, and received several scholarly honors, including the Literary Prize of the Council of the French Community in 1981.

Later, he represented academia as Permanent Secretary of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium (2008–2018), chaired the Centre pour l’Égalité des Chances et la Lutte contre le Racisme (2008–2011), and has remained active as a member of international scholarly institutions, including the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, where he has been a foreign corresponding member since 2014.