# Who is the most famous non-fictional Belgian? (updated) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 3, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651 "2020-11-03T15:10:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/1 "2020-11-03T15:10:48Z")
I posted this question 6 years ago but after running it by my Fb circle this year again I thought it was time for a renewed look at this important question for our time. The most famous Belgians, of course, are two famous fictional characters: Hercule Poirot and Tintin. If you don’t agree with my options, please reply and suggest your own! Interested on your justifications, serious or otherwise, for your choice as well. _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/1))_ ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/2 "2020-11-03T15:19:00Z")
Surely Jean-Claude Van Damme… …or Audrey Hepburn ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/3 "2020-11-03T15:25:58Z")
I fixed the poll for you. Make sure the [poll type=regular results=always chartType=bar] is on its own line. As to the poll it should include Audrey, she was born in Belgium and spent the war years starving there and work for the resistance. Would you like me to add her and/or Jean-Claude Van Damme? ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/4 "2020-11-03T15:36:43Z")
I would add Rubens if you’re including influential artists, but I agree that JCVD and Audrey are hands-down the most “famous” of the bunch. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/5 "2020-11-03T15:46:18Z")
JCVD, surely. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/6 "2020-11-03T15:53:20Z")
No love for Django Reinhardt? ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/7 "2020-11-03T16:11:07Z")
Sure, if you want! Thanks for the fix. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/8 "2020-11-03T16:11:43Z")
I’m really thinking of Belgians who were from a place named Belgium, which Rubens was not. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/9 "2020-11-03T16:21:56Z")
That’s who I would have picked as well. But it wasn’t a choice so I choose King Leopold II, even though I know next to nothing about him I do recognize his name. Seriously, how could JCVD been left off the list? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/10 "2020-11-03T16:22:57Z")
Did not Audrey was from Belgium. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/11 "2020-11-03T16:33:28Z")
thus why i did not include her initially ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/12 "2020-11-03T16:33:50Z")
I wanted to see who else people would vote for… ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/13 "2020-11-03T16:36:37Z")
That makes sense, because the poll would most likely have had only one answer had you included him. Well played. Made me look up some of the others. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/14 "2020-11-03T17:01:06Z")
The King, if by “famous” we’re including “infamous.” Many books have been written about King Leopold II, and he’s a major figure in a conversation we’re still having about slavery, race, and colonialism. Jean-Claude Van Damme doesn’t come close, and probably is already not well known among the current teenage set. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/15 "2020-11-03T17:06:56Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Jean-Claude Van Damme This was my first thought before opening the thread. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/16 "2020-11-03T17:20:40Z")
After only reading the thread title, I thought of Eddy Merckx or [Salvatore Adamo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Adamo), mostly known only as Adamo. I don’t know if Adamo ever was popular in the US, but he was all over the place in Europe in the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/17 "2020-11-03T17:25:08Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Jean-Claude Van Damme doesn’t come close, and probably is already not well known among the current teenage set. _The Expendables 2_ made over 300 million, and he’s been happy to parody himself in other recent series. I think he’s pretty well known to quite a few teens. Although let’s be serious - do you think most of today’s teens know who Leopold II is, but not JCVD? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/18 "2020-11-03T17:27:31Z")
I was deciding between Magritte and Brel as most famous Belgian, but I kept waffling ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/19 "2020-11-03T17:29:43Z")
ISWYDT (Nannybot doesn’t, though, and doesn’t think the body of my post was good enough…) ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/20 "2020-11-03T17:49:48Z")
Had to vote Eddie Mercx but historically King Leopold II will have been much more well known through history. Not a great person to have as your most famous though. You could argue that he most famous Belgium right now is Eden Hazard or Kevin De Bruyne! I remember meeting some Austrians who asked me and some other Brits I was with to name the most famous Austrian. We um-ed and ah-ed, in silent agreement to deliberately avoid saying Mozart, Freud or Tesla and replied: “Hitler? Josef Fritzel?”. They were not amused, but we all ended up getting many beers and laughing about it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651.md?page=2)