Francqui, Émile Lucien Joseph (1863-1935)

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Businessman, political influencer and science patron, born 25 June 1863 in Brussels and died 16 November 1935 in Overijse.

Biography

Early career

Emile Francqui was born in 1863 to a Brussels family of modest means. He was only 15 when he enlisted in the Belgian army. Nevertheless, he quickly rose through the ranks. He was in his twenties when he was sent to the Congo Free State in 1885, in service of Leopold II's new colony. With his fruitful reconnaissance missions and successful law enforcement, Francqui made himself noticed in the king's entourage. It marked out the path for his further career: for when he had bid farewell to the army around 1895, the young man could immediately embark for China, as Belgian consul based in Hankou (later Shanghai). Francqui played an important role for the expansion of the Belgian economy in this region. In 1900, he co-founded the Compagnie internationale d'Orient, a body that grouped Belgian investments in China. The compagnie was itself a branch of the Banque d'Outremer. After his time as consul, Francqui acted as administrator delegate of this institution for a short time in 1910. He exchanged this post in 1913 for the director's chair of the Société Générale, Belgium's first investment bank.

It was in this capacity that Francqui took charge of the National Relief and Food Committee (Comité National de Secours et d'Alimentation (CNSA)) in 1914. This committee had been set up by Ernest Solvay at the beginning of the World War to organise supplies to the starving Belgian population. The CNSA was supported by the major Belgian banks. It also cooperated with the Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB), a US humanitarian organisation that arranged fundraising and goods from the United States. The CRB was headed by US businessman and later president Herbert Hoover.

Founder of the University Foundation

The majority of the CNSA's revenue came from the Belgian government. So the remaining funds were, in principle, to be returned to that government. Francqui, however, had other plans for the money. From 1915, he began lobbying in private circles for his own proposal: to donate the money to Belgian higher education institutions. In April 1916, the ambitious businessman organised a clandestine meeting with the elite of Brussels' financial and academic world to christen his new foundation for scientific patronage. The Commission of the University Foundation was born. For the first time in their history, Belgian universities were working together on a common science policy. Not wrongheaded, as it would turn out that the war had left these institutions ailing, destitute and in ruins.

Plans became reality on 28 August 1919, when Herbert Hoover offered the Belgian government to redirect the remaining appropriations of his Commission for Relief in Belgium to the coffers of the Belgian universities. The amount was 94.5 million francs, to be divided among the Université libre de Bruxelles, the Catholic University of Louvain, the state universities of Ghent and Liège, the Colonial High School of Antwerp and the Ecole des Mines of Mons. Another 55.5 million was allocated to the creation of what would later become the University Foundation. News of the donation was met with great enthusiasm in the scientific community. What the general public did not know, however, was that the 150 million francs originally came not from the coffers of the CRB, but from Francqui's CNSA. With the complicity of Hoover, the latter had fraudulently diverted government money to the CRB. The government was of course aware but turned a blind eye, also because about half of the ministers were former members of the CNSA.

Thus, the University Foundation came into being. The philanthropic organisation started its activities in 1922, under the leadership of Francqui, who remained its presidentt until his death. Its task was to offer financial support in the form of scholarships and loans to less well-off students, to scientific institutions and to scholars seeking funds for their research, publications or study trips. The Foundation also organised exchanges of professors and students between universities, and maintained a 'university club' at its headquarters on Egmont Street in Brussels. This English-style club served as a meeting place for Belgian scientists and their patrons. Herbert Hoover, for his part, founded the Belgium American Educational Foundation. In addition to the donations, the Belgian government gave legal personality to the Belgian universities so that they could manage their new patrimony independently.

Founder of the FNRS-NFWO

After World War I, Emile Francqui continued his social and political rise. He was a director in numerous companies, head of a gigantic financial and industrial empire and leader of the Société Générale, which was booming during the 1920s. A heavyweight in Belgian finance, Francqui also represented business in politics. He was the pivotal figure at all post-war international conferences dealing with the war debt and German reparations. During two periods in his life, he was also a minister (1926 and 1934-35), each time using his 'technical ability' to save the franc and public finances. With his behind-the-scenes influence and his network of loyalists, he profoundly left his mark on post-war politics. This influence was partly the result of his connection with King Albert, in whom he found a like-minded vision of science funding in the 1920s.

The devaluation of the franc in 1925 had a devastating effect on the University Foundation. There was no longer enough money, which meant the Foundation had to limit its activities to awarding scholarships to less well-off students. On the other hand, Belgian industry experienced strong economic growth after the monetary crisis. These two developments combined meant that people almost automatically looked again towards private patronage for future science funding. On 1 October 1927, on the advice of Francqui and Armand Solvay, King Albert delivered his famous 'Seraing speech' to an audience of industrialists and bankers.

In his speech, the monarch warned of the dangers a small exporting country like Belgium faced if it neglected its research institutions, especially those dedicated to fundamental research. The monarch's appeal rang out a second time, on 26 November 1927, when he spoke at the formal session of the Academies. Here, for the first time, he explicitly formulated his proposal: the creation of a National Fund for Scientific Research. Francqui, once again, had a hand in it: after all, as president of the University Foundation, he chaired the formal session. Three months later, a specially created Propaganda Committee led by the shrewd lobbyist had already collected 100 million francs, including donations from leading banks and companies and large and small donations from individuals. The Société Générale alone contributed 11 million francs. The NFWO was officially established by the Royal Decree of 2 June 1928. Of the 26 founding members, 14 were from the University Foundation. Francqui was on the board of directors from the start.

Émile Francqui with Jean Willems, his right hand man and successor at the head of the NFWO-FNRS. Source : Herinneringen aan Jean Willems (1895-1970), Bruxelles, FWO, 1972, p. 7.

The ‘système Francquiste’

The constation of a shared continuity among different institutions led the historian K. Bertrams to speak of the ‘système francquiste’ of science in Belgium during the inter-war period. Indeed, beyond the similarity of the means employed (to wit:royal support, the involvement of Émile Francqui's personal 'network', private funding, co-management by business financiers and academic authorities, the pluralism and official political and philosophical neutrality but unofficial "liberal-minded, bourgeois atmosphere that was Bruxellois and French-speaking at heart" ),the FU and the FNRS pursued similar ends.

Since the war, Émile Francqui had been saying that Belgian science was suffering from both the utilitarianism of students and the lack of public investment in this sector. The young FNRS thus set itself the task of making up for this lack by offering Belgian scientists the material conditions necessary to pursue their ideal of pure and disinterested research. The speeches that preceded over the setting up of this ‘système francquiste’ also bear witness to the optimism specific to the period and the social milieu to which their founders belonged. Firstly, economic optimism, in these years of seemingly unlimited growth, rationalisation and technical progress: innovation in product design and production seemed to be the key to national prosperity. Secondly, there was international optimism, as ideals of disarmament, appeasement and cooperation between yesterday's enemies blossomed: science had a mission to bring people together. Finally, social optimism, as meritocracy and philanthropy should contribute to the reconciliation between the classes of society and lead to the formation of a new intellectual elite.

Finally, the creation of the NFWO-FNRS attests to US influence in Belgium. The American model is distinctive in that it allocates funding primarily to individuals rather than institutions, and without creating new research institutions (as was the case in France and the Netherlands). Francqui drew inspiration from American foundations such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation , but King Albert also visited American universities in 1898 and 1919. Both saw there the prosperity and rapid development of research funded by private patrons. The monarch referred to it implicitly in his speech afterwards.

Throughout his life, Francqui devoted his organisational talents to projects of scientific philanthropy. He carefully navigated the ideological and political plurality of the Belgian context, which enabled him to win the trust of various groups of the Belgian intellectual elite. These paid homage to him on several occasions. Francquis' name remains linked to the Francqui Foundation to this day. This society for scientific patronage sponsors young researchers who aspire to spend time abroad, organises the Francqui Chair, which allows Belgian or foreign researchers to give guest lectures, and awards the Francqui Prize, which is a kind of Belgian Nobel Prize that honours deserving Belgian scientists.

Bibliography

• Bertrams, K., Universités & entreprises. Milieux académiques et industriels en Belgique (1880-1970), Brussel, 2006.

• Bertrams, K., "De l’initiative privée à la reconversion publique du « système francquiste » : le F.N.R.S. et la coordination de la recherche scientifique en Belgique (1914-1950)", in: K. Bertrams, E. Biémont, G. Vanpaemel G. en B. Van Tiggelen, Pour une histoire de la politique scientifique en Europe (XIX^e-XX^e siècles) : actes du colloque des 22 et 23 avril 2005 au Palais des Académies, Brussel, 2007, p. 51-75.

• Despy-Meyer, A., Instellingen en netwerken, in: Robert Halleux, Geert Vanpaemel, Jan Vandersmissen en Andrée Despy-Meyer (red.), Geschiedenis van de wetenschappen in België. 1815-2000,, deel I, Brussel, 2001, p. 71-89.

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• Halleux, R., Xhayet, G., "De ontwikkeling der ideeën", in: Robert Halleux, Geert Vanpaemel, Jan Vandersmissen en Andrée Despy-Meyer (red.), Geschiedenis van de wetenschappen in België. 1815-2000,, Brussel, deel 1, 2001, p. 51-70.

• Halleux, R., Pirot, P., « Albert Ier et la science industrielle : une relecture du discours de Seraing » in: Museum Dynasticum, 23 (2011), nr. 2, p. 63-82.

• Halleux, R., Xhayet, G., La liberté de chercher. Histoire du Fonds National belge de la Recherche scientifique, Luik, 2007.

• Kurgan-van-Hentenryk, G., « Francqui Émile », in: Kurgan-van-Hentenruk, G. e.a. (dir.), Dictionnaire des patrons en Belgique : les hommes, les entreprises, les réseaux, Brussel, 1996, p. 291-293.

• Nash, G., "Herbert Hoover’s Contribution to the Reconstruction of Belgium after World War I", in: P. Tallier en P. Nefors P. (red.), Quand les canons se taisent : actes du colloque international organisé par les Archives de l’État et le Musée royal de l’Armée et d’Histoire militaire (Bruxelles, 3-6 novembre 2008), Brussel, 2010, p. 363-401.

• Ranieri, L., Émile Francqui ou l’intelligence créatrice, Parijs, 1985.