Baudouin of Belgium

Fifth king of the Belgians (1930–1993)

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Source-basedRising

Lived 1930–1993, aged 63

Wikipedia
65 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1930–1993
Aged 63
Known for
A Night at the Opera
2020

Summary

Updated 2026-06-08

He reigned for forty-two years, presided over the end of Belgian rule in the Congo, and refused for three days in 1990 to sign an abortion law — stepping aside so parliament could enact it without his name. Now the Vatican is considering him for sainthood.

Biography

About

Baudouin became King of the Belgians on 17 July 1951, the elder son of the controversial Leopold III and Princess Astrid of Sweden, who died when he was four. He was the last Belgian monarch to hold sovereignty over the Congo, which gained independence in 1960 and became the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He married Queen Fabiola, but they had no children. When he died on 31 July 1993, the crown passed to his younger brother, Albert II. In 2024, the Holy See opened the cause for his beatification, granting him the title Servant of God.

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Baudouin of Belgium

Baudouin of Belgium

saidundated

When Leopold II began his great work, which today finds its culmination, he presented himself to you not as a conqueror but as a bringer of civilization.

— Wesseling 2003: 50-51

Baudouin of Belgium

saidundated

For eighty years Belgium has sent your land the best of her sons, first to deliver the Congo basin from the odious slave trade which was decimating its population.

— Marred M. Lumumba's offensive speech in King's presence

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

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