# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/leopold-i-of-belgium
# Generated: 2026-08-31T16:54:21.764Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/leopold-i-of-belgium"
name: "Leopold I of Belgium"
slug: "leopold-i-of-belgium"
description: "He turned down Greece, took Belgium instead, and became the first king of a brand-new country assembled by treaty in 1831 — chosen because his diplomatic bloodlines stretched across Europe and his British ties made him safe for the balance of power."
tagline: "German prince who became the first King of the Belgians (1790–1865)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/1840_portrait_of_King_Leopold_I_(King_of_the_Belgians)_by_Winterhalter.jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "Germany"
  isoCode: "DE"
category:
  name: "Historical Figures"
  slug: "historical-figures"
profileType:
  name: "Historical Figure"
  slug: "historical-figure"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2798645"
birthDate: "1790-12-16"
deathDate: "1865-12-10"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           64.92
  momentum:             15
  historical:           26.187252
  currentAttention:     2.285714285714286
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "RISING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: 176
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Politician"
    slug: "politician"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "19th Century"
    slug: "19th-century"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_I_of_Belgium"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12971"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Leopold%20I%20of%20Belgium"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%84%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84_%D9%85%D9%84%D9%83_%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%A7"
    title: "ليوبولد الاول ملك بلجيكا"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopoldu_I_de_B%C3%A9lxica"
    title: "Leopoldu I de Bélxica"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%DB%8C%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%AC%DB%8C_%D9%84%D8%A6%D9%88%D9%BE%D9%88%D9%84%D8%AF_(%D8%A8%D9%84%DA%98%DB%8C%DA%A9)"
    title: "بیرینجی لئوپولد (بلژیک)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Leopold_(Bel%C3%A7ika_kral%C4%B1)"
    title: "I Leopold (Belçika kralı)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D0%B5%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B4_I_(%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C_%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B3%D1%96%D1%96)"
    title: "Леапольд I (кароль Бельгіі)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D0%B5%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B4_I_(%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%8F)"
    title: "Леополд I (Белгия)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_Ia%C3%B1_(Belgia)"
    title: "Leopold Iañ (Belgia)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_I%2C_kralj_Belgijanaca"
    title: "Leopold I, kralj Belgijanaca"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_I_de_B%C3%A8lgica"
    title: "Leopold I de Bèlgica"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_I._Belgick%C3%BD"
    title: "Leopold I. Belgický"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_I%2C_brenin_Gwlad_Belg"
    title: "Leopold I, brenin Gwlad Belg"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_1._af_Belgien"
    title: "Leopold 1. af Belgien"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_I._(Belgien)"
    title: "Leopold I. (Belgien)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9B%CE%B5%CE%BF%CF%80%CF%8C%CE%BB%CE%B4%CE%BF%CF%82_%CE%91%CE%84_%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%85_%CE%92%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%B3%CE%AF%CE%BF%CF%85"
    title: "Λεοπόλδος Α΄ του Βελγίου"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopoldo_la_1-a_(Belgio)"
    title: "Leopoldo la 1-a (Belgio)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopoldo_I_de_B%C3%A9lgica"
    title: "Leopoldo I de Bélgica"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9opold_I"
    title: "Léopold I"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopoldo_I.a_Belgikakoa"
    title: "Leopoldo I.a Belgikakoa"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%84%D8%A6%D9%88%D9%BE%D9%88%D9%84%D8%AF_%DB%8C%DA%A9%D9%85%D8%8C_%D9%BE%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%87_%D8%A8%D9%84%DA%98%DB%8C%DA%A9"
    title: "لئوپولد یکم، پادشاه بلژیک"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_I_(Belgia)"
    title: "Leopold I (Belgia)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9opold_Ier_(roi_des_Belges)"
    title: "Léopold Ier (roi des Belges)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_I_na_Beilge"
    title: "Leopold I na Beilge"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leopold_I_of_Belgium"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/L%C3%A9opold_Ier_(roi_des_Belges)"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leopoldo_I_del_Belgio"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://nl.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leopold_I_van_Belgi%C3%AB"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://sr.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D0%B5%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B4_I_%D0%BE%D0%B4_%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B5"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  The youngest son of a minor German duke, Leopold fought Napoleon in the Russian army after French troops rolled through Saxe-Coburg. He moved to Britain in 1816 and married Princess Charlotte of Wales; the marriage was happy but ended after a year and a half when she died delivering a stillborn son. He stayed on in Britain with considerable status. After the Greek War of Independence he was offered the Greek throne under the 1830 London Protocol but turned it down as too precarious. Belgium, newly independent in 1830, offered him its crown instead — he had the royal connections and wasn't aligned with France or other powers that might upset the Vienna settlement. He took his oath on 21 July 1831, married Princess Louise of Orléans the next year, and had four children with her plus two sons by his mistress Arcadie Claret. His reign saw Dutch attempts to recapture the country, internal splits between Liberals and Catholics, and his own quiet expansion of royal power through constitutional ambiguity. He pushed economic modernization, helped fund Belgium's first railway in 1835, and blocked the 1848 revolutions from spreading into his kingdom. He died in 1865 and le