Jean-Baptiste Brasseur
Jean-Baptiste Brasseur was born in Esch-sur-Alzette, in the province of Luxembourg, on June 24, 1802. The eldest of a large family of modest origins, his youth was laborious and austere, with no material comforts. Attracted by the study of science, it was only through sacrifice and effort that he succeeded in completing his studies.
Youth
Ith books readily available, Jean-Baptiste Brasseur was forced to limit his reading to a few essential works, which he had to deconstruct in order to assimilate completely. He was educated partly by a private schoolteacher and partly self-taught. From his youth, he retained a lifelong taste for simplicity.
He then entered the Athénée de Luxembourg and, in 1824, enrolled at the Faculty of Sciences of the young Université de Liège. There, he studied under the first professors of the University of Liège: metaphysics with Bernard-Ignace Denzinger, sciences with the physician and chemist Delvaux, and mathematicians Van Rees, Vanderheyden and Germinal-Pierre Dandelin. The latter had a profound influence on him. In 1829, he was awarded a doctorate in physics and mathematics.
He then went to Paris, where he attended lessons given by famous professors such as Binet at the Collège de France and Cauchy, Thénard and Gay-Lussac at the Sorbonne. In the evenings, he took courses in stone cutting and carpentry, the same as Eugène Catalan, who would later become his colleague at the University of Liège.
He returned to Belgium in 1830 after independence and became a private teacher. His first attempt to join the University of Liège was unsuccessful. He then took up the post of captain commanding the artillery of the Liège civic guard. In the Salle des Drapiers, he organized courses in analytic geometry and descriptive geometry for future captains. He is also a member of the jury for the military school examination.
In 1831, he was appointed "conducteur de 3e classe des ponts et chaussées" to supervise shipbuilding at Boom, which never took place... He taught elementary mathematics at the University of Louvain until 1832. Jean-Baptiste Brasseur married in 1831, and had 5 children.
Professorship
Appointed lecturer in descriptive geometry and high analysis applied to geometry at the University of Liège, he based his lessons on the doctrines of the French mathematician GaspardMonge. Very precise and clear, Jean-Baptiste Brasseur was much appreciated by his students.
In 1835, following the reorganization of the universities, he lost the analysis course and was assigned the applied mechanics course. He retained the descriptive geometry course (with applications to stone cutting, carpentry, perspective and shading). From 1835, he also taught a course in elementary mathematics to students of the various faculties, a course that was discontinued in 1949.
An extraordinary professor in 1837, he served as academic secretary from 1838 to 1839, before being appointed ordinary professor in 1844. Jean-Baptiste Brasseur was also a member of the supervisory board of the Ecole industrielle de la ville de Liège. On December 14, 1855, he was elected a full member of l'Académie royale de Belgique (section sciences mathématiques et physiques).
With a number of colleagues, including Walthère Spring and Théodore Lacordaire, he founded an association, the "Société royale des sciences de Liège". This association is the most important in Belgium, after the Science Class of the Royal Academy of Brussels. For several years, he held the position of Secretary General.
On October 26, 1860, he received the Knight's Cross of the Order of Leopold, and on February 19, 1868, he was appointed Officer of the Oak Crown by the King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Brasseur was all the more appreciative of these honors because of his modest and discreet nature.
In 1865, he lost one of his sons, Léopold, a tutor in descriptive geometry at the University of Liège. He died three years later of a cold. François Folie, one of his students, was entrusted with the posthumous publication of his last writings.
Awards and distinctions
- Member of the Académie royale de Bruxelles from 1855
- Correspondent of the Société des sciences naturelles de Luxembourg
- Knight of the Order of Leopold in 1860
- Officer of the Order of the Oak Crown 1868
Text by Joëlle Samedi and the ORBi team
