Metadata: Archives of the Applied Science Faculty
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- UGent University archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Universiteitsarchief UGent
- Postal address:
- Oud rectoraat, verdieping -2, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 25, 9000 Gent
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)9 264 30 81
- Web address:
- http://www.ugent.be/nl/univgent/collecties/archief
- Email:
- archief@UGent.be
- Reference number:
- UGentA-Ghent-6E
- Title:
- Archives of the Applied Science Faculty
- Title (official language):
- Archief van de Faculteit Toegepaste Wetenschappen
- Creator/accumulator:
- Universiteit Gent
- Date(s):
- 1846/1997
- Language:
- French
- Dutch; Flemish
- Lithuanian
- Polish
- Russian
- Hebrew
- Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan
- Extent:
- 39 linear metres
- Scope and content:
- In this fonds we firstly note the files nos. 6E2_1 to 6E2_9 containing incoming and outgoing correspondence from the Dienst van de Bestuurder van de Speciale Scholen regarding students (for the years 1920-1947). The nos. 6E2_1 to 6E2_3 (1922-1944) specifically relate to foreign students. They consist of small individual files concerning (foreign) students, including numerous Jewish students. The files contain i.a. hand written correspondence of the students with the university, diplomas (often legalised and in certified translation) awarded by educational institutions abroad etc. Searching by family name is possible, by means of a register (see no. 6E2_9). In the correspondence (dated 1872-1955) of the Dienst van de Studie-inspecteur van de Bijzondere Scholen we note i.a. a list (1919-1933) of Romanian students (mostly from Kishinev [present-day Chisinau] and Galatz) who obtained an engineering degree in Ghent (file no. 6E20_5.180); other files concerning students from Central and Eastern Europe are probably also relevant. Lastly, we mention the file no. 6E5_9 (dated ca. 1922-1928) in which we find original diplomas and attestations accorded by (often Jewish) educational institutions from (present-day) Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Moldavia and Israel.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Rijksuniversiteit Gent (“National University Ghent”), one of the three public universities of the Southern Netherlands founded by Willem I, was established in 1816 and opened in 1817. Initially it had four faculties: literature and philosophy, law, science and medicine. Gradually, and especially from the 1960s, various colleges or university departments were transformed into the 11 faculties (and over 120 departments) currently part of UGent. S. Verhelst, the first female student, started in 1882; I. Van der Brach became the first female assistant professor (1919) and professor (1925). Resistance against the exclusively francophone character of the university started to surface in the late 19th century. During the First World War the institution was closed and replaced by the Vlaamse Hoogeschool (1915-1918), created by Von Bissing in the context of the German Flamenpolitik. Via the intermediary phase of the bilingual ‘Nolf system’, Dutch became the exclusive medium of instruction of the Rijksuniversiteit Gent in 1930. The university acquired legal personality after the war (law of 5 July 1920). In the interwar years the number of students of foreign nationality peaked – in 1924 almost 35% of the students came from abroad, primarily from Romania, Poland, Lithuania and Bulgaria. During the Second World War the university was again controlled by the occupier, who wished to remodel it to German standards. After the war the university continued to grow, driven by an ever increasing number of students and the associated need to provide adequate infrastructure. Its architectural heritage includes iconic buildings such as the university library with its modernist Boekentoren by Vande Velde, the University Hospital, the Blandijn and others. Geographically the UGent expanded notably to the suburbs (Sterre campus) and nearby municipalities (Merelbeke, Zwijnaarde). The 1960s and 1970s were not only years of expansion at every level, but also of contestation by the students, notably for democratisation and greater public participation (1969), and against the raised tuition fees (1978-1979). In 1991, the Rijksuniversiteit Gent was transformed into a public institution with legal personality and renamed to Universiteit Gent (Ghent University). In 2003 the UGent, Hogeschool Gent, Arteveldehogeschool and Hogeschool West-Vlaanderen founded the partnership vzw Associatie Universiteit Gent. Today, the UGent has over 38000 students and 7100 employees. (http://www.ugentmemorie.be; A.-M. Simon-van der Meersch & E. Langendries, 175 jaar Universiteit Gent – Ghent University, 1817-1992: een verhaal in beeld – a story in pictures, Gent, Universiteit Gent, 1992.)
- Access points: locations:
- Ghent
- Access, restrictions:
- Documents less than 50 years old containing personal information are not consultable.
- Finding aids:
- 6E. Inventaris van het Archief van de Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen, Gent, Universiteitsarchief Gent. [no author]
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
