# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/21 "2020-11-03T17:52:23Z")
My thought was King Albert I. Probably saved Belgium during WWI. ---
**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, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/22 "2020-11-03T18:06:55Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > We um-ed and ah-ed, in silent agreement to deliberately avoid saying Mozart, Freud or Tesla and replied: “Hitler? Josef Fritzel?”. Schwarzenegger? (Yes, apparently my knowledge of foreign-born persons is limited to action movie stars!) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/23 "2020-11-03T18:13:21Z")
Manneken-Pis > **[Manneken Pis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manneken_Pis)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Manneken Pis (Dutch: \[ˌmɑnəkə(m) ˈpɪs\] (listen); Dutch for 'Little Pissing Man') is a landmark 55.5 cm (21.9 in)\[a\] bronze fountain sculpture in central Brussels, Belgium, depicting a puer mingens; a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin. Though its existence is attested as early as the 15th century, it was designed in its current form by the Brabantine sculptor Jérôme Duquesnoy the Elder and put in place in 1618 or 1619. > Manne... ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/24 "2020-11-03T18:20:42Z")
Most famous person who happens to be Belgian, whether or not you think of them as being from Belgium? Or, person who is famous for being Belgian—the kind of person you think of when someone says “Think of a famous Belgian”? ---
**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, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/25 "2020-11-03T18:29:41Z")
Don’t think you can get more famous for being Belgian than to be known as _The Muscles from Brussels_ ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/26 "2020-11-03T18:31:29Z")
You left “waffle” off your poll. 😉 ---
**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, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/27 "2020-11-03T18:44:38Z")
Wink wink ---
**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, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/28 "2020-11-03T18:44:59Z")
Not really a **person** ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/29 "2020-11-03T18:59:51Z")
Nothing about your title specifies it needs to be a person. “Belgians” are also a breed of draft horse. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/30 "2020-11-03T19:04:39Z")
Depends on which legend you believe. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/31 "2020-11-03T19:05:58Z")
Who’s that? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/32 "2020-11-03T19:12:04Z")
I am a bit sad you did not include Julio Cortázar in your list, though I would still have voted for Hergé. I would also have included [André Franquin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Franquin), [Morris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_(cartoonist)) and [Peyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peyo), I am a fan of Belgian _bandes desinnées_. ---
**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, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/33 "2020-11-03T20:18:59Z")
I don’t think Cortazar counts, his parents were diplomats. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/34 "2020-11-03T21:10:02Z")
If Audrey Hepburn counts, so should Cortázar 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/35 "2020-11-03T21:50:36Z")
I’m surprised Leopold is winning - I’m sure more people would have heard of Magritte. Some of his paintings are part of pop culture. Leopold was barely known of outside Belgium until just a few short years ago, and asking people to get the right regnal number would be a challenge. Audrey Hepburn isn’t really known as a famous Belgian, exactly. She counts as Belgian because she spent her first 7 or 8 years there, but her wartime escapades were in the Netherlands, not Belgium. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/36 "2020-11-03T22:20:25Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I’m surprised Leopold is winning - I’m sure more people would have heard of Magritte. Some of his paintings are part of pop culture. I’ve totally heard of Magritte. I’ve even attended a major show of his works. But I had no recollection he was Belgian. That attribute is a not a big part of _why_ he’s well-known. The whole and entire reason Leopold is well known is his connection to Belgium. Said another way I think of the royal turdbird as “King Leopold II of Belgium”. That’s his name. “Magritte of Belgium”? Not so much. The other names on the survey? Never heard of 'em. Though upon looking up Hergé I thought “Oh yeah, Tintin. Should’ve recognized that! :smack:” Audrey Hepburn & Jean Claude VD? Heard of them, know their claim to fame, but again not with even the slightest connection to Belgium. Maybe I’m unusually unread, or don’t much care what country non-political figures come from. But I bet I’m not too alone in that. Heck, I even have an uncle by marriage who’s a born and raised Belgian who came to the US in his 40s. You’d think with that connection I’d know more about prominent Belgians _as Belgians_. Nope. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/37 "2020-11-03T22:28:59Z")
If you’re thinking only of people who are famous for being from their country, though, that rules out almost anyone except royals. Van-Damme would be out on that metric too, since his fame is down to being an action movie star, not being Belgian. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/38 "2020-11-03T22:34:36Z")
Yes. But my point isn’t that their fame stems from their Belgianness or whatever. It’s that if their fame isn’t connected to their country of origin, why would I know what their country of origin is? The OP’s list could have had a bunch of other European ringers in it and I’d not be the wiser. Unless those ringers were politicians or royals. I suppose I answered a question here that wasn’t exactly what was asked. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/39 "2020-11-03T22:37:10Z")
Right now, it just might be Dr. Peter Piot, virologist, epidemiologist, and COVID-19 survivor. > **[Peter Piot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Piot)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Sir Peter Karel, Baron Piot, KCMG, FRCP, FFPH, FMedSci (born 17 February 1949) is a Belgian-British microbiologist known for his research into Ebola and AIDS. > After helping discover the Ebola virus in 1976 and leading efforts to contain the first-ever recorded Ebola epidemic that same year, Piot became a pioneering researcher into AIDS. He has held key positions in the United Nations and World Health Organization involving AIDS research and man... ---
**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, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651/40 "2020-11-03T22:40:11Z")
If you know where Brussels is then you most likly know where Van Damne is from. Problem is most Americans don’t know where Brussels is . . . maybe in the vegetable aisle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-non-fictional-belgian-updated/924651.md?page=3)