At least Brel (and Father Damien) made both lists!
I didn’t know Mercator was Flemish. He’s got to be on a list of most influential people from the area that would be known as Belgium, for sure.
The first four people I thought of before looking at the options not listed in the poll:
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Father Damien
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Georges Simenon
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King Leopold II
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King Baudouin
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Magritte is the first I thought of who is an option
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Django Reinhardt, born there but lived mostly in France I think
JCVD didn’t occur to me until I saw his name in the poll options, but he is more famous than most of the people I did think of. And those seven are pretty much the limit of my knowledge of Belgian people.
JCVD for sure. Before opening the thread, Hergé was the first famous Belgian I thought of. I assumed Magritte was French or maybe Swiss. Fr. Damien was my second thought although not famous enough.
Jacques Brel and Plastic Bertrand are more famous for their songs as covered by others (or for “that woo-oo-oo-oo song”) than them as artists, I think
Okay, I’m weird. The first “real Belgian” name that came to mind for me was Jean “Black Jack” Schramme.
I’ve heard more than once that if Belgium were just divided among its three neighbors, no one much would notice it was gone.
Well, 3 countries would suddenly find themselves in possession of much better beer.
That was my thought, though Fellaini’s 'fro makes him a tad more noticeable from a distance.
In point of fact, it has four. If the above-suggested deed were to be done on a “four” basis, presumably Luxembourg would suddenly become a good deal bigger…
In the English-speaking world, it’s very likely. In the French-speaking world, while Plastic Bertrand has gone back to obscurity in the past 10-15 years, Jacques Brel is still considered one of the major 20th-century singer-songwriters. Stromae has been compared to him, much to the younger artist’s embarassment (“It’s way too early to say such a thing”). If Brel had been on the list, he would have been my choice. Or perhaps César Franck (naturalized French but born Belgian).
Hergé (Tintin) and Peyo (The Smurfs) have been mentioned but as far as I’m concerned, the best Belgian cartoonist is André Franquin. I grew up reading and re-reading Gaston, the laziest and most accident-prone office junior in the world. I still love it by the way: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_%28comics%29)
http://www.tuxboard.com/photos/2014/02/Gaston-Lagaffe-planche.jpg
http://www.bedetheque.com/media/Planches/PlancheA_2818.jpg
http://www.gzahab.fr/livre_bd/bd/planchbd/gaston15.jpg
http://www.bedetheque.com/media/Planches/GastonP.jpg
Funny how many people mentioned King Leopold II. In Belgium, he’s one of those early kings that no one remembers. King Baudoin is much more likely to be mentioned by people over 25.
Since the Flemish painters and the composers of the Franco-Flemish School are out, I’d have to vote for Jean Claude van Damme in the list, unfortunately (my heart says Magritte but realistically…).
Looks like I have declare the Muscles from Brussels the winner, much as it pains me.
At least I win the bet, with van Rompuy acquiring 0 votes!