POLITICIAN

Leopold II of Belgium

1835 - 1909

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Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Leopold I and Queen Louise, Leopold succeeded his father to the Belgian throne in 1865 and reigned for 44 years until his death, the longest reign of a Belgian monarch to date. He died without surviving legitimate sons; the current king of the Belgians, Philippe, descends from his nephew and successor, Albert I. He is popularly referred to as the Builder King in Belgium in reference to the great number of buildings, urban projects and public works he commissioned. Leopold was the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private colonial project undertaken on his own behalf as a personal union with Belgium. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Leopold II of Belgium is the 417th most popular politician (down from 223rd in 2019), the 16th most popular biography from Belgium (down from 8th in 2019) and the 6th most popular Belgian Politician.

Leopold II was the King of Belgium from 1865-1909. He is most famous for his brutal rule over the Congo and his exploitation of the Congo's natural resources.

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Among POLITICIANS

Among politicians, Leopold II of Belgium ranks 417 out of 19,576. Before him are Croesus, Francis II of France, Sheikh Hasina, Elizabeth of Russia, William the Silent, and Galba. After him are Woodrow Wilson, Charles VI of France, Sergio Mattarella, Magnus the Good, Philip III of Spain, and Gerald Ford.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1835, Leopold II of Belgium ranks 5. Before him are Pope Pius X, Mark Twain, Empress Dowager Cixi, and Camille Saint-Saëns. After him are Cesare Lombroso, Adolf von Baeyer, Josef Stefan, Giovanni Schiaparelli, Giosuè Carducci, Andrew Carnegie, and Demetrius Vikelas. Among people deceased in 1909, Leopold II of Belgium ranks 1. After him are Cesare Lombroso, Geronimo, Isaac Albéniz, Itō Hirobumi, Hermann Minkowski, Francisco Tárrega, Hermann Ebbinghaus, Karl Theodor, Duke in Bavaria, Peder Severin Krøyer, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, and Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.

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In Belgium

Among people born in Belgium, Leopold II of Belgium ranks 16 out of 1,190. Before him are John of Gaunt (1340), Andreas Vesalius (1514), Anthony van Dyck (1599), Gerardus Mercator (1512), René Magritte (1898), and Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908). After him are Orlande de Lassus (1534), Carlota of Mexico (1840), Guillaume Du Fay (1397), Frans Hals (1582), Mary of Burgundy (1457), and Georges Simenon (1903).

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Among POLITICIANS In Belgium

Among politicians born in Belgium, Leopold II of Belgium ranks 6. Before him are Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500), Pepin the Short (715), Clovis I (466), Ursula von der Leyen (1958), and Philip I of Castile (1478). After him are Mary of Burgundy (1457), Auguste Beernaert (1829), Albert II of Belgium (1934), Leopold III of Belgium (1901), Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy (1480), and Baudouin of Belgium (1930).

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