1879 in Belgium

The following lists events that happened during 1879 in the Kingdom of Belgium.

← 1878 1877 1876 1879 in Belgium → 1880 1881 1882
Decades:	1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s
See also:	Other events of 1879 List of years in Belgium

Incumbents

• Monarch: Leopold II
• Prime Minister: Walthère Frère-Orban

Events

Firedamp explosion at Agrappe Mine, 17 April 1879

• 2 March – Castle in Tervuren burns down.
• 17 April – Firedamp explosion at Agrappe Mine in Frameries.
• 1 July – Law secularising primary education passes, triggering First School War

Publications

Periodicals

• Almanach de Poche de Bruxelles (Brussels, H. Manceaux)
• Bulletin de la Société belge de géographie, 3 (Brussels, Secrétariat de la Société Belge de Géographie)

Books

• Hendrik Conscience, Het wassen beeld
• Léon Vanderkindere, Le siècle des Artevelde: études sur la civilisation morale & politique de la Flandre & du Brabant (Brussels, A.-N. Lebègue).

Art and architecture

Leuven railway station, rebuilt 1879

• Leuven railway station rebuilt

Births

• 5 February – Jules De Bisschop, Olympic rower (died 1954)
• 15 February – Camille Van Hoorden, footballer (died 1919)
• 28 April – Edgard Tytgat, painter (died 1957)
• 29 April – Marie Haps, philanthropist (died 1939)
• 22 May – Aston Chichester, bishop (died 1962)
• 27 May – Arthur Balbaert, sports shooter (died 1938)
• 24 August – Achille Delattre, politician (died 1964)
• 26 September – Alexandre Galopin, businessman (died 1944)
• 9 October – Edgar Sengier, mining engineer (died 1963)
• 21 October – Maurice Beeli, botanist (died 1957)
• 25 October – Jean Rogister, musician (died 1964)
• 18 December Joseph Lebon, theologian (died 1957)

Deaths

• 7 May – Charles De Coster (born 1827), novelist
• 19 May – Jules Anspach (born 1829), politician
• 16 July – Konrad Martin (born 1812), German bishop
• 11 August – Jan Swerts (born 1820), painter
• 18 August – Joseph Octave Delepierre (born 1802), antiquary
• 24 August – Théodore de Montpellier (born 1807), bishop of Liège
• 30 September – Félicien Chapuis (born 1824), entomologist
• 3 November – Joseph Poelaert (born 1817), architect
• 9 December – Jacob Jacobs (born 1812), painter