your greatest compatrion

[bone]

right now there's a "contest" going to find the greatest belgian ever, and i heard they did this in several countries already.
i taught it would be cool to know who won where, and what countries have which person i should know.
so post the top 10 for you countrie with a line of explanation so every knows who he/she is, and also mention who you think should win (or who already won, if it's finished)

so, for belgium
1. Father Damian (1840 - 1889): simple missionaire who dedicates his live to the lepra victims who are banned to molokai. he eventually dies to the disease as well

2. Ambiorix (100bc/-100): the most well known gallier ever, he stood up against Julius Caesar, and made him say the words "the belgians are the bravest people ever"

3. Andreas Vesalius (1514 - 1564): the first person to do any anatomic research. highly illegal in that time, so he went out and stole corpses which had been hung publicly. he formed the basics of modern health knowledge

4. Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640): one of the greatest barock painters ever

5. Paul Janssen (1926 - 2003): founder of Janssen pharmaceutica, which did a huge amount of research, and released several wide spread medicines

6. Eddy Merckx (1945-...): does he need any explanation? THE greatest cyclist EVER, won everything you can imagine (except olympic gold) several times

7. Gerardus Mercator (1512 - 1594): the very first guy who ever started making maps so ships would know where they were going

8. Hendrik Conscience (1812 - 1883): the greatest writer belgium ever had, he's always referred to as "the man who taught his people how to read", his books are still being reprinted

9. Adolf Daens (1839 - 1907): a simple priest who stood up for the work people, managed to give them the right to vote, and although being obstructed by both state and church, became a politician of the people

10. Jaques Brel (1929 - 1978): a simple singer who turned out to be a great song writer, and who made "le chanson" very popular in all of europe


i think eddy merckx should win. he was the greatest of his era, the things he did, he all did himself, and everyone knows him.
i don't have a big taught about artists, they're just lucky to get recognition, so i don't think any of them should win.
fathen Damian shouldn't either, caus he died doing sth for someone else, that's just stupid
i have no idea what the janssen dude is doing there, i guess he had a good research team around him
ambiorix is cool, but kinda old, i don't think he should be considered
then we still have vesalius and mercator. they're decent winners, they did sth usefull and revolutionary. but eddy still lives, so he gets my vote

remarkable: no politician made it in the top 50
and no mention in the top 100 about Karel Cogge, he's the guy who came up with the plan to open the gates at the end of WWI, and drown all the germans (no offence ), i think he at least deserves his name being mentioned

[fluke667]

you forgot Jacky Ickx !

[avanti]

what about Jacky Ickx?

[jensked]

Originally Posted by avanti

what about Jacky Ickx?

Jacky Ickx was a famous Belgian driver. Some say he drove the Ferrari on 'cétait un rendez-vous'. But I don't know if you can nominate sportsmen as being 'the greatest belgian'.

Being a scientist, I'd go for Mercator

[bone]

he didn't make it to the final list , i think if you would ask around on the street, not half of the people would know who he is

there are way more, there are at least 5 painters which are worth being listed here.
and many more sportsman, Ceulemans (snooker) or Goethals (soccer) to start with
Adolph Sax, inventor of the saxomophone
Leo Baekeland, invetor of "bakeliet", plastic they had in 1900

we would actually need a top 30 or sth. so many more name to add

[KryptonZone]

What about Albert Frere?

[flyingfridge]

Originally Posted by jensked

Jacky Ickx was a famous Belgian driver. Some say he drove the Ferrari on 'cétait un rendez-vous'. But I don't know if you can nominate sportsmen as being 'the greatest belgian'.

Being a scientist, I'd go for Mercator

Of course you can nominate sportsmen as the greatest belgian. Hell, we award the 'Australian of the Year' to sportsmen all the time and I'd guarantee if that list was Australian, Sir Donald Bradman would be very, very near the top. Like top 2 or 3.

[swek]

I think they did something similar over here. I vaguely remember that they excluded Hitler from the possible nominees.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by jensked

Jacky Ickx was a famous Belgian driver. Some say he drove the Ferrari on 'cétait un rendez-vous'. But I don't know if you can nominate sportsmen as being 'the greatest belgian'.

Being a scientist, I'd go for Mercator

I know who he is, I posted to ask why he wasn't on the list. I guess it looked like i was asking who he was since my post came right after fluke667.

Anyways, since Eddy Merckx is on the list I don't see why Ickx shouldn't be there. I mean, Peter Paul Rubens, " one of the greatest barock painters ever", I would rather be one of the greatest race drivers ever...

[bone]

^yeah, i agree

and the only reason a painter, writer, ... makes it on the list is greatly influenced by the mood of the period where he gained his recognition, while a sportsman was good or was bad, in what way you try to look at it

[Ultra_Kool_Dude]

I haven't heard of any of those people.

[jensked]

Originally Posted by Ultra_Kool_Dude

I haven't heard of any of those people.

Well the only Canadians I know are Terrance and Philip
Oh and of course Celine Dion and Brian Adams...

The question remains: what do you have to do to be the greatest Belgian?
1) Do something for your country?
2) Do something for the world?
3) ...

When you take those different options in account, you get different results.
I think they did not define 'the greatest Belgian' properly before nominating.

[swek]

Still, you have to be pretty ignorant if you never heard of Rubens. What are they teaching you in art class over there ?

[Ultra_Kool_Dude]

Originally Posted by swek

Still, you have to be pretty ignorant if you never heard of Rubens. What are they teaching you in art class over there ?

Art class?

[swek]

Originally Posted by Ultra_Kool_Dude

Art class?

Erm yes. Don't you have classes like that ?

The concept is fairly simple. In early grades you just sit there and paint, mold clay etc. The higher the grade the more specific the task. Eventually you'll learn about the history of art, specific styles and their most famous representatives, architecture, the lot.

[Ultra_Kool_Dude]

Originally Posted by swek

Erm yes. Don't you have classes like that ?

The concept is fairly simple. In early grades you just sit there and paint, mold clay etc. The higher the grade the more specific the task. Eventually you'll learn about the history of art, specific styles and their most famous representatives, architecture, the lot.

We had voluntary classes like that, but they were considered bird courses.

[bone]

so what about other countries?