Le plus grand Belge (French for The Greatest Belgian), was a television show on the Belgian French-speaking public channel RTBF. In the program the audience could vote for the greatest Belgian by using the website, sending an SMS or using the telephone. In total several hundred thousand votes were cast.
A separate vote "De Grootste Belg" by the Belgian Dutch-speaking public channel VRT was held around the same time, producing strikingly different results, such as both top-10s sharing only three personalities. To some this illustrates the low significance of any national cultural identity that remains shared among the two predominant language communities of the country.
Because Father Damien holds the highest average ranking of the three shared personalities, it has been argued that he is the only one to be entitled "Greatest Belgian", as voted by all Belgians.
11) Paul-Henri Spaak Prime Minister.
12) Albert I of Belgium king of Belgians.
13) Leopold II of Belgium king of Belgians.
14) Justine Henin tennis player.
15) Ernest Solvay chemist, industrialist and philanthropist.
16) Victor Horta architect and designer.
17) Godfrey of Bouillon Lord of Bouillon, a leader of the First Crusade, first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
18) André Franquin comics artist (Gaston Lagaffe)
19) Andreas Vesalius anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, De humani corporis fabrica (On the Structure of the Human Body).
20) Adolphe Sax musical instrument designer and musician, best known for inventing the saxophone.
21) Peter Paul Rubens painter
22) Philippe Geluck, cartoonist (Le Chat)
23) Zénobe Gramme, inventor of the dynamo
24) Raymond Goethals, soccer player and coach
25) Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, film directors
26) Annie Cordy, singer and comedian
27) Marguerite Yourcenar author
28) Amélie Nothomb, author
29) Dirk Frimout, astronaut and first Belgian in space
30) André Ernest Modeste Grétry, composer
31) Jacky Ickx, race car driver
32) Luc Varenne, sports journalist
33) Peyo, comics artist (The Smurfs)
34) Salvatore Adamo, singer
35) Maurice Grevisse, grammarian
36) Albert II of Belgium, king
37) Jules Bordet, microbiologist
38) Leopold I of Belgium, king
39) Stéphane Steeman, comedian
40) Eugène Ysaÿe, violinist
41) John Cockerill, industrialist
42) Maurane, singer
43) Émilie Dequenne, actress
44) Toots Thielemans, jazz musician
45) Maurice Carême, author and poet
46) Haroun Tazieff, geologist
47) Gerard Mercator, cartographer
48) Edith Cavell, nurse
49) Queen Fabiola of Belgium, queen
50) Ambiorix, tribal chieftain
51) Pierre Rapsat, singer
52) Albert Frère, industrialist
53) Christine Ockrent, journalist
54) Gerard Mortier, opera director
55) Paul Delvaux, painter
56) Olivier Strelli, fashion designer
57) Jules Delhaize, industrialist
58) Pieter Brueghel The Elder, painter
59) César Franck, composer
60) Franco Dragone, theatre director
61) Jaco Van Dormael, film director
62) André Delvaux, film director
63) Jules Destrée, politician
64) Elisabeth of Bavaria, queen
65) Christiane Lenain, comedian
66) Kim Clijsters, tennis player
67) Emile Verhaeren, author
68) Astrid of Sweden, princess
69) Gerard Corbiau, film director
70) Père Pire, priest and humanitarian
71) Jean-Michel Folon, artist
72) Ilya Prigogine, scientist
73) Pierre Bartholomee, composer
74) Lise Thiry, politician and scientist
75) Jules Bastin, singer
76) Django Reinhardt musician
77) Henri Vernes, author
78) Georges Lemaître, astronomer, creator of the Big Bang Theory
79) Morris, comics artist (Lucky Luke)
80) Maurice Maeterlinck, author
81) Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, duke
82) Paul Vanden Boeynants, Prime Minister
83) Arno Hintjens, singer
84) Elvis Pompilio, fashion designer
85) Gabrielle Petit, spy
86) Jean-Joseph Charlier
87) Emile Vandervelde, politician
88) Isabelle Gatti de Gamond, feminist and pedagogue
89) Gaston Eyskens, Prime Minister
90) Godfried Danneels, cardinal
91) James Ensor, painter
92) André Renard, politician
93) François Bovesse, politician
94) Pierre Kroll, cartoonist
95) Arlette Vincent, TV presenter
96) Gustave Boël, industrialist
97) Paule Herreman, TV presenter and comedian
98) Edgar P. Jacobs, comics artist (Blake and Mortimer)
99) Jean Neuhaus, chocolate designer
100) Jean Roba, comics artist (Boule et Bill)
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