Édouard Ducpétiaux
Antoine Édouard Ducpétiaux (29 June 1804, Brussels – 21 July 1868, Brussels) was a Belgian journalist.[1][2][3]
In 1827 he obtained his doctorate from the University of Ghent, being admitted to the bar in Brussels during the following year. He quickly became known as an opponent of the death penalty and fervent defender of freedom of the press.[4]
He played a significant role surrounding events of autumn-1830 during the Belgian Revolution. Ducpétiaux was a leading figure in regards to demands made for an immediate break from the Netherlands along with the creation of a provisional government. He served as president of the "Réunion centrale" (Central Assembly), and for a period of time was imprisoned in Antwerp by Dutch authorities (being released on October 11, 1830). Following his release, he resigned from "Réunion centrale" due to differences with other assembly members.
Afterwards he was appointed inspector-general of prisons by the provisional government. Among his numerous publications was a three-volume work on penitentiary reform. In the 1840s he introduced projects for eradication of slums (1844, 1846). Later in his career he was involved with Catholic charity projects.[5]
Selected publications
- Des progrès et de l'état actuel de réforme pénitentiaire (1837–38, three volumes).
- De la condition physique et morale des jeunes ouvriers (1843, two volumes).
- Budgets économiques des classes ouvrières en Belgique (1855).
- Des conditions d'application du système de l'emprisonnement séparé ou cellulaire (1857).
- La question de la charité et des associations religieuses en Belgique (second edition- 1859).[6]
References
- ↑ Historical Dictionary of Brussels - Page 91 Paul F. State - 2004 "DUCPÉTIAUX, ANTOINE-ÉDOUARD (1804–1868). Antoine- Édouard Ducpétiaux was born in Brussels on 29 June 1804, the eldest of three sons of the owner of one of the capital's principal lace houses. He is remembered for his advocacy of improvements within the prison system.
- ↑ La France littéraire: ou Dictionnaire bibliographique des savants Page 632 Joseph Marie Quérard - 1828 "DUCPÉTIAUX (Édouard), avocat; né à Bruxelles , le 29 juin 1804.
- ↑ Aude Musin, Xavier Rousseaux, Frédéric Vesentini Violence, conciliation et répression: Recherches sur l'histoire crime, de l'Antiquité au XXT siècle, Louvain, UCL Page 102 - 2008 "37 Cf. over het leven en werk van Édouard Ducpétiaux onder meer volgende publicaties van P. LENTZ, Notice sur Édouard Ducpétiaux, in Bulletin de la Commission Centrale de Statistique, 1872, p. 71-88 ... E. RUBBENS, Édouard Ducpétiaux 1804-1868, Bruxelles (Collection de l'École des sciences politiques et sociales de l'université de Louvain), 1934 "
- ↑ Marguerite Silvestre, Michel-Benoit Fincœur, Hosam Elkhadem Bruxelles 2000 Page 76 "C'est Edouard Ducpétiaux qui s'en chargea. Antoine-Edouard Ducpétiaux siège à la Commission de statistique aux côtés d'Adolphe Quetelet. Docteur en droit dès 1827, il est rapidement connu comme pourfendeur de la peine de mort et bouillant défenseur de la liberté de la presse."
- ↑ Historical Dictionary of Brussels
- ↑ Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, 1908 "Ducpétiaux (spr. dückpetjō), Edouard, belg. Publizist und Volkswirt,"