Herman Liebaers

Herman Liebaers (February 1, 1919 in Tienen, Belgium – November 9, 2010 in Jette, Brussels) was a Belgian linguist. He was director general of the central Belgian Royal Library and Marshal of the Royal Household of the Royal Court of Belgium.

Education He obtained a master's degree in literature from Ghent University in 1942 and a Ph.D. in 1955 at the same university.

Career In 1943, he started working at the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels (Albertina). During the war he was captured by the Nazis and imprisoned in the concentration camps of Breendonk and Huy. In 1950, he spent 6 months in the U. S. with a Fulbright scholarship and worked a few weeks at the Library of Congress. From 1951 until 1956, he was also Assistant Secretary of the Belgian American Educational Foundation. In 1954, he moved on to become the librarian of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

In 1956, he returned to the Royal Library in Brussels, being appointed its director general, From 1969 until 1974, he was president of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), and subsequently honorary president.

Personal life He was married to Isa Hereng. They had a son, Dirk, and a daughter Inge Liebaers, who was a professor of genetics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.