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Jan Van Rijswijck

Belgian politician (1853-1906)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 14, 2026
Entity authorityQ6150112 ↗
Source-derived summary

Jan Van Rijswijck (14 February 1853 – 23 September 1906) was a Belgian lawyer, liberal politician and journalist.

Education

He started his education at the boarding school of Melle and continued his education at the Catholic University of Leuven and finally at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, where he graduated as a Doctor in Law on 20 April 1876.

Career

He established himself as a lawyer in Antwerp. On 25 October 1881, he became a member of the municipal Council of Antwerp and on 28 October 1889, he was appointed alderman of education. In 1892, he succeeded Leopold De Wael as mayor of Antwerp. From 1892 up to 1906, he was mayor of Antwerp, and from 1900 up to 1906, a Member of Parliament.

While he was mayor the Antwerp World Fair of 1894 was held, several important buildings were constructed such as for the pilotage, the Antwerp Central Station and the toll house. Also in the port of Antwerp the construction of the Kanaaldok was started, and as a result the activity of the port expanded.

Of the many speeches, which he held on judicial matters, Flanders and ships, only a few were published: on Abraham Lincoln (recitation, Antw. 1877); George Washington (recitation Antw.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Jan Van Rijswijck” as belgian politician (1853-1906). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1853, 1906, 1876, 1881—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1853-02-14. The account is most persuasive where Rijswijck, Belgian and politician can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as belgian politician (1853-1906). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6150112. VIAF identifies the subject as 65288801. The Library of Congress control number is n79113415. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1853, 1906, 1876 and 1881.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Jan Van Rijswijck”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Jan Van Rijswijck primary sources, Jan Van Rijswijck archive and Rijswijck research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jan Van Rijswijck”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Jan Van Rijswijck” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.