BRUSSELS STUDIES INSTITUTE

Often when walking through the streets of Brussels, passers-by often ask themselves: Who is the person to whom this street is dedicated? When was this metro station built? Where does the celebrity of this restaurant come from? Who is the sculptor of this statue? What are the origins of my town? Who is the author of this famous Brussels play? Why and by whom was this park established?

These questions and thousands of others, many Brussels residents and visitors to the city ask themselves these questions every day without knowing where to find a quick, clear, sure and succinct answer. To date, there is no book that can answer all these questions. This dictionary of Brussels proper nouns therefore comes at the right time. It is the result of an exceptional collaboration between more than 80 researchers, many of whom teach in our universities, who have chosen to offer the general public a summary of knowledge on more than 4,200 items, from the Aa Family to… Zwanze!

The Dictionary of the History of Brussels offers a quick presentation of institutions, organisations, people, works of art, events… linked to the history of Brussels. Specialists from many disciplines (historians, geographers, sociologists, art historians, specialists in literature, comic strips, etc.) offer a summary of the state of knowledge, aimed both at Brussels residents curious about their city’s past and at visitors or researchers wishing to quickly find an initial lead to information on one or other subject.