Édouard Ducpétiaux Explained

Antoine Édouard Ducpétiaux (29 June 1804, Brussels – 21 July 1868, Brussels) was a Belgian journalist and social reformer.^{[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 in the 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 11 October 1830). Following his release, he resigned from "Réunion centrale" due to differences with other assembly members.

In the same year he was appointed inspector-general of prisons by the provisional government.^[5] 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.^[6] He took the lead in organising the first International Statistical Congress (1853) and International Philanthropic Congress (1856) in Brussels, and the Malines Congresses of 1863, 1864 and 1867.^[7]

Ducpétiaux was a member of the masonic lodge "Les Vrais Amis de l'union et du progrès réunis" in Brussels.^[8] It has also been claimed that he was a member of the elite twelve-member dining club known as the "Société des douze".^[9]

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).^[10]

Further reading

• Edmond Rubbens, Édouard Ducpétiaux, 1804–1868 (2 vols., Leuven, 1922–1934)

Notes and References

1. 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."
2. Joseph Marie Quérard, La France littéraire: ou Dictionnaire bibliographique des savants (1828), p. 632: "Ducpétiaux (Édouard), avocat; né à Bruxelles, le 29 juin 1804."
3. Eric Maes, "De juridische normering van het gevangenisregime in België: Ontwikkelingen doorheen twee eeuwen detentiepraktijk (1795-heden)", in Violence, conciliation et répression: Recherches sur l'histoire du crime, de l'Antiquité au XXIe siècle, edited by Aude Musin, Xavier Rousseaux and Frédéric Vesentini (Louvain, 2008), p. 102n, lists as reading on the life and work of Édouard Ducpétiaux: P. Lentz, "Notice sur Édouard Ducpétiaux", Bulletin de la Commission Centrale de Statistique, 1872, pp. 71-88; J. Simon, "Trois grandes figures de la science pénitentiaire belge", Revue de Droit Pénal et de Criminologie, 1939, pp. 588-605; and E. Rubbens, Édouard Ducpétiaux 1804-1868, Brussels (Collection de l'École des sciences politiques et sociales de l'université de Louvain), 1934.
4. Marguerite Silvestre, Michel-Benoit Fincœur, Hosam Elkhadem, Bruxelles (2000), p. 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."
5. Vanhulle . Bert . Dreaming about the prison: Édouard Ducpétiaux and Prison Reform in Belgium (1830- 1848) . Crime, Histoire & Sociétés / Crime, History & Societies . 2010 . 14 . 2 . 107-130 . Librairie Droz . en. 42708789.
6. http://brussels.enacademic.com/239/Ducp%C3%A9tiaux%2C_Antoine-%C3%89douard Historical Dictionary of Brussels
7. M. Defourny, Les Congrès Catholiques en Belgique (Leuven, 1908), p. 29. On Internet Archive.
8. Philippe Libert, Les Vrais amis de l'union et du progress réunis, Brussels: Éditions du Grand Orient de Belgique, 2007, p. 148 .
9. Libry-Bagnano, Les crimes d’un honnête homme, La Haye, 1832, p. 180.
10. http://de.academic.ru/dic.nsf/meyers/34190/Ducp%C3%A9tiaux Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, 1908