Boerenbond Explained

Boerenbond
Location Country:	Belgium
Founded:	1890
Headquarters:	Diestsevest 40, 3000 Leuven
Key People:	Sonja De Becker

The Boerenbond (Dutch, pronounced as /nl/; or German: Bauernbund, pronounced as /de/; literally "Farmers' League") is a professional association of farmers active in the Flemish and German-speaking communities of Belgium. Founded in 1890 and based in Leuven, the Boerenbond is an organisation promotes the interests of farmers working within its regions of activity and has historically been closely associated with Catholic political parties.

In the 1920s, it had 100,000 members divided into 1,050 guilds, and it was "intimately connected with the Catholic church". In politics, it was "an important part of the strong Catholic party".^[1]

The organisation is politically right-wing and has historically been influential within national Christian Democratic politics. Today it has particular prominence within the Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V) and Christlich Soziale Partei (CSP) parties.

The Boerenbond competes with the rival Algemeen Boerensyndicaat (ABS) organisation.

List of presidents

• 1890-1925: Joris Helleputte
• 1925-36: Victor Parein
• 1936-40: Gilbert Mullie
• 1940-49: Alfons Conix
• 1949-61: Gilbert Mullie
• 1961-64: Maurits Van Hemelrijck
• 1964-77: Constant Boon
• 1977-81: André Dequae
• 1981-92: Jan Hinnekens
• 1992-95: Robert Eeckloo
• 1995-2008: Noël Devisch
• 2008-15: Piet Vanthemsche
• 2015–22: Sonja De Becker
• 2022-present: Lode Ceyssens

Further reading

• Segers. Yves. Hermans. Roeland. Between ideology and science: higher agricultural education in Belgium and the development of a Catholic agricultural network, 1850–1914. Journal of Contemporary History. April 1981. 16. 2. 293–322. 260576.
• Book: Hervieu. Bertrand. Les Syndicats agricoles en Europe. 1992. L'Harmattan. Paris. 2-7384-1677-2.
• Bisschop. Chantal. Making a Rural Movement: The Farmers' Union's Answer to a Changing Rural World in Flanders, from the 1960s to the 1970s. Rural History. October 2011. 22. 2. 227–49. 10.1017/s0956793311000045. 162990107.
• Bisschop. Chantal. Les guildes rurales du Boerenbond en Flandre (1972-1990). Courrier Hebdomadaire du CRISP. 2013. 31-32. 2196–2197.

External links

• Official website
• The Rural Movement in Flanders, 1960-1990 at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
• The Flemish rural movement on the move (1960's – 1970's)

Notes and References

1. "Belgian Peasants Increased Savings During Occupation", The Wall Street Journal, 22 December 1922, p. 13. (Newspapers.com)