'Raoul Warocqué' (
Brussels,
4 February,
1870 –
Brussels,
28 May,
1917), was a
Belgian industrialist of
Wallonia. Raoul was the great-grandson of
Nicolas Warocqué, the founder of the Warocqué-dynasty. He made the coal mines of Mariemont successful, and at 21 years of age had established a considerable fortune.
A careful investment policy made him the richest man in Belgium at the beginning of the
20th century. His industrial ventures were numerous, such as in the coal mines of
Campine as well as in other industrial sectors including
Clabecq, Gas and Electricity of Hainaut, railroads and coal mines in
China, tobacco in
Portugal, and others.
As an industrialist, he was a
philanthropist and a
paternalist. Raoul Warocqué was a
freemason of the
Grand Orient of Belgium, Belgian
patriot and a
royalist. At the
Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), he participated in the ''Jeune Garde libérale'' (Young Liberal Guard). In
Mariemont and in
Hainaut, he founded liberal organizations.
As a politician he was mayor of
Morlanwelz and liberal deputy of
Thuin. He supported bills favorable to the
working class, while at the same time he was opposed to the right to strike. His most noted interventions relate to
Belgian Congo, the military service, compulsory education and of course the coal mines. As a philanthropist, he created open dormitories in Brussels (
1891), which distributed soup and of bread to the poor. He supported the ULB, the ''Ecole des Mines'' (E: School of the Mines), and founded the ''Institut commercial'' (E:Commercial Institute) (
Warocqué) in
Mons as well as the ''Athénée du Centre'' (Central Athenaeum) in
Morlanwelz, an orphanage, a childcare facility, a maternity hospital, and so on.
He is also one of the financiers of the
World Fair of Brussels (
1897 and
1910) and of
Charleroi (
1911). He fell ill and died during
World War I, in
1917.
External links
★
Warocqué family
★
Royal Museum of Mariemont