Journal of Belgian History, LVI, 2026, 1
The first article by Margaux van Uytvanck focuses on the early years of Marcel Broodthaers, one of the most important postwar visual artists. In this article, Van Uytvanck reassesses Broodthaers’ early period as a poet and argues that it laid the artistic foundation for his later success as a visual artist. In his article, Pierre-Alexis Du Bus Warnaffe uses the so-called “Personal-Ausweis” introduced by the German occupier in Greater Brussels during the First World War as the starting point for a broader investigation into the history of administrative control and identification techniques in our country, and more specifically the role played by municipal authorities in this process. Gertjan Desmet analyses the typescript of Patrice Lumumba’s speech of 30 June 1960, held in the collections of the CegeSoma-Rijksarchief, and addresses the question of whether this was Lumumba’s personal copy. This issue also contains a debate section on artificial intelligence featuring contributions by Xavier Gillard as well as Frédéric Clavert and Caroline Muller. Finally, the issue also publishes fourteen new doctoral dissertation summaries.