Antoine van Bilsen

Anton A. Jozef "Jef" Van Bilsen (13 June 1913 – 24 July 1996) was a Belgian professor who, in December 1955, proposed a thirty-year plan for creating a self-sufficient independent state out of the Belgian Congo. The timetable called for a gradual change over 30 years, the time he estimated it would take to create an educated elite to administrate the new Congo. His plan never came to fruition after Congolese nationalists demanded immediate independence, leading to the Congo Crisis. He taught at the University of Leuven.

Bibliography

• Vers l'indépendance du Congo et du Ruanda-Urundi (1958)
• Kongo 1945-1965: Het Einde van een Kolonie (1993)

References

• Lieven Saerens. Inventaris van het Archief Anton A. Jozef (Jef) Van Bilsen (1913-1996). KADOC Reeks Inventarissen en Repertoria nr. 59, Leuven, 2002.