The eminent VUB philosopher and historical figure Leopold Flam has been granted an entry in the National Biographical Dictionary. The piece was written by Professor Emeritus Willem Elias. It serves as a tribute to a thinker who helped shape Flemish philosophy and secular humanism. This 26th edition of the National Biographical Dictionary may well be the final one to appear in printed form.
Leopold Flam (1912–1995) was born in Antwerp into a Jewish family and grew up in poverty. He began his career as an autodidact and eventually studied philosophy and history at Ghent State University. During the Second World War, he joined the resistance and spent more than a year in captivity, including time in Buchenwald. After the war, he became a teacher and later a state inspector of history, where he introduced innovative ideas on the teaching of history.
In 1956, Flam received a part-time appointment at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and from 1969, with the founding of the autonomous VUB, he became a full professor. He helped develop the Department of Philosophy at the VUB and played a key role in establishing the degree programme in Moral Sciences. Flam was a freethinker, a polemicist, and a prolific author: he published dozens of books and hundreds of articles on philosophy, ethics, and secularism. His work was characterised by a historical approach to philosophy and an existential dimension, influenced by Hegel, Nietzsche, and Sartre. Until his retirement in 1982, he remained a provocative yet inspiring figure.
Willem Elias, Professor Emeritus at the VUB, is a philosopher of art and a cultural historian. He has published extensively on Leopold Flam and secular humanism. With this entry in the National Biographical Dictionary, Elias once again highlights Flam as a thinker who left his mark on Flanders not only academically but also socially.
The National Biographical Dictionary is a prestigious series that features biographies of prominent Belgian figures. Since 1964, 26 editions have been published by the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts. The entry on Flam appears in an edition that may be the last to be printed, as the series now continues in digital form.