Charles Joseph Adolphe Borgnet
Born in Namur in 1804 and deceased in Liège in 1875, Charles Joseph Adolphe Borgnet was the first rector whose life was entirely in the 19th century, and whose term of office was extended by a further three years (1848-1852), following the law of July 15, 1849, which made rectorial functions triennial.
After studying law at the University of Louvain, he worked as an examining magistrate at the Namur Court of First Instance, while conducting research into local and national history. In 1837, this scholarly work led to his appointment as professor of medieval and Belgian history at the University of Liège, and his subsequent appointment as full professor at the same institution (1841).
His numerous publications earned him membership of the Royal Historical Commission in 1850. In addition to a critical edition of Jean d'Outremeuse's Myreur des histors and a history of the Liège Revolution of 1789, his other works include Légendes namuroises and Guide du voyageur en Ardenne ou Excursions d'un touriste belge en Belgique, published under the pseudonym Jérôme Pimpurniaux.
Under Borgnet's rectorship, the University of Liège entered a new phase in its history, following the law on higher education (1849), which reorganized course curricula and examination boards, and instituted a Conseil de perfectionnement de l'enseignement supérieur (Higher Education Improvement Council) with representatives from each of the faculties of the state universities. In 1848-1849, the faculty included Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve.
Other speeches
Go to : Jean Servais Guillaume Nypels
Illustration : Joseph Schubert, À Monsieur Ad. Borgnet, Recteur sortant, lithographie,1853, Musée Wittert-ULiège, inv. 2884.