1880 in Belgium
# 1880 in Belgium

The following lists events that happened during 1880 in the Kingdom of Belgium.

## Incumbents

* Monarch: Leopold II
* Prime Minister: Walthère Frère-Orban

## Events

* January – The White slave trade affair is exposed in Brussels and attracts international attention.
* 7 March – Reception in the winter garden at Royal Palace of Laken to celebrate the engagement of Princess Stéphanie of Belgium to Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria.
* 24 May – Provincial elections
* 5 June – Belgian government breaks off diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
* 8 June – Partial legislative elections of 1880
* 16 August – Celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Belgian independence in Cinquantenaire Park
* 22-28 August – International Educational Congress held in Brussels.
* September – Queen Marie Henriette visits Aachen for her health.
* 25 December – Pope Leo XIII issues a breve to establish a new chair in Thomist philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain.

## Publications

### Periodicals

* Bulletin de l'Association Belge de Photographie, vol. 7
* La Jeune Belgique begins publication.

### Exhibition catalogues

* F.G. Dumas, Catalogue illustré de l'exposition historique de l'art belge et du Musée moderne de Bruxelles (Brussels and Paris)
* Exposition nationale: IVe section, industries d'art en Belgique antérieurs au XIXe siècle (Brussels, Veuve Ch. Vanderauwera)

## Art and architecture

### Buildings

* Cinquantenaire

### Paintings

* Jan Verhas, The Parade of the Schools in 1878

## Births

* 10 January – Frans Van Cauwelaert, politician (died 1961)
* 4 December – Eugène Soudan, politician (died 1960).

## Deaths

* 30 January – Paul Devaux (born 1801), politician
* 28 April – Louis Dubois (born 1830), painter
* 13 May – Lievin De Winne (born 1821), painter
