Charles Martel is probably the most important Belgian out there, in my humble opinion. Not only did he stop the Moorish advance at Tours, but he was also Charlemagne's grandfather. Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Martel
It is an enormous difficult task to determine "the most important Belgian out there" since there are so many to choose from, e.g. is the Big Bang theory more important than to stop a rather crappy Arab invasion? Or is the acceptance of the Catholic Christian faith by Clovis I not more important for the entire developement of all human kind? I don't know. Anyhow, the greatest of greatest -- the Emperors of Emperors -- is probably Emperor Charles V. Yes, another Belgian! The first Emperor to possess an "imperio en el que nunca se pone el sol". Charles, by the grace of God, Holy Roman Emperor, forever August, King of Germany, King of Italy, King of all Spains, of Castile, Aragon, León, Navarra, Grenada, Toledo, Valencia, Galicia, Majorca, Sevilla, Cordova, Murcia, Jaén, Algarves, Algeciras, Gibraltar, the Canary Islands, King of Two Sicilies, of Sardinia, Corsica, King of Jerusalem, King of the Western and Eastern Indies, Lord of the Islands and Main Ocean Sea, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, Brabant, Lorraine, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Limburg, Luxembourg, Gelderland, Neopatria, Württemberg, Landgrave of Alsace, Prince of Swabia, Asturia and Catalonia, Count of Flanders, Habsburg, Tyrol, Gorizia, Barcelona, Artois, Burgundy Palatine, Hainaut, Holland, Seeland, Ferrette, Kyburg, Namur, Roussillon, Cerdagne, Zutphen, Margrave of the Holy Roman Empire, Burgau, Oristano and Gociano, Lord of Frisia, the Wendish March, Pordenone, Biscay, Molin, Salins, Tripoli and Mechelen.
Sorry, but apart from one or two already mentioned (Reubens, Hepburn, Sax, etc.), the only other one I could come up with was: ...and his creator, obviously. Belgium is a fine country, but it's not really noted for producing lots of world-famous individuals. And no, I've never heard of Father Damian either!
Apparently 'The Smurfs' were created by a Belgian man, who make a comic strip out of them. Belgium is a fine country...but here in the UK its got a reputation as being a 'boring' country. Ask any British person to name a famous Belgian person, then usually the first answer is:- Jean Claude Van Damme. I once met a Belgian on holiday and asked him if he could tell me of famous Belgian people, he could only come up with two names, one being Van Damme, and the other being Justin Henin the tennis player.
When i was at school.......many many moons ago! I once had to do a project on Belgium..........it didn't take very long too do!
Awfull contest, corrupt, annoying and more. Belgian people are nice to do business with, lot more relaxed then Germans or French
True in my limited experience of doing business with Continental Europeans. Although they are very heavy smokers.
Benoit Poelvoord is a great entertainer. C'est arrivé près de chez vous/Man Bites Dog was an awesome movie! Belgians are also talented in music. Soulwax/2ManyDJs are amongst the best around. And what's not to like about Puggy and Selah Sue? [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bjLOyUuoAM"]Puggy - When You Know - YouTube[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IunmW3wI5Q"]Selah Sue - Raggamuffin - YouTube[/ame]
