Saturday, January 28, 2023

Sunday, January 28, 1923. Gand est Français?

100,000 Francophone Belgians protested the imposition of Flemish at Ghent University, changing "Gand est Français".

The Belgian Chamber of Deputies had imposed Flemish, and prohibited French, by law.

Flemish is, of course, a Dutch dialect spoken in Belgium, one of Belgium's three languages, the third being German, which is spoken in a small area of the country.  Territorially, about half of Belgium speaks Flemish as their primary language.  Ghent, in northern Belgium, is in fact in the Flemish region of the country.

Flag of Flanders.

The Belgians who speak Flemish are also called the Flemis, and make up about 60% of the Belgian population, all concentrated in the north. Flanders is the Flemish region.   The French speaking area is part of Wallonia, a region which includes parts of France.

Flag of Wallonia.

New Zealand cricketer and later Wellington lawyer, Alfred Holdship, died at age 55

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