Herman Van Rompuy

Herman Achille, Count Van Rompuy (ˈɦɛrmɑɱ vɑn ˈrɔmpœy; born 31 October 1947) is a Belgian politician, who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 2008 to 2009, and then as the first permanent president of the European Council from 2009 to 2014. A politician from Belgium's Christian Democratic and Flemish party, Van Rompuy served as the 49th prime minister of Belgium from 30 December 2008 until Yves Leterme (who was also his predecessor) succeeded him on 25 November 2009. On 19 November 2009, Van Rompuy was selected by the members of the European Council, which is the institution of the European Union (EU) comprising the heads of state or government of the EU member states, as the first full-time President of that Council under the Treaty of Lisbon. He was appointed for the period 1 December 2009 until 31 May 2012, though he only took up his position officially on 1 January 2010. On 1 March 2012, he was re-elected for a second (and last) term, to last from 1 June 2012 until 30 November 2014. He was appointed chairman of the board of the College of Europe in 2019. Born in Etterbeek, Brussels, to Dr. Victor Lodewijk Maurits "Vic" van Rompuy (Begijnendijk, 27 February 1923 – Begijnendijk, 14 November 2004), later Professor of Economics, and wife Germaine Geens (Begijnendijk, 1 December 1921 – Begijnendijk, 23 November 2004), he attended Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege in Brussels (until 1965), where Ancient Greek and Latin were his main subjects. During his early teens, he was an avid rock and roll fan, especially of US singer Elvis Presley. Later, he studied at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and received a bachelor's degree in Philosophy (1968), and a master's degree in Applied Economics (1971). He worked at the Belgian Central Bank from 1972 to 1975. From 1980 to 1987, he was a Lecturer at the Handelshogeschool Antwerpen (now Lessius University College); from 1982, he was also a lecturer at the Vlaamse Economische Hogeschool Brussel (VLEKHO later Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel; now University of Leuven Brussels campus).