{"id":227912,"date":"2025-12-09T11:28:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T10:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/?p=227912"},"modified":"2025-12-17T20:39:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T19:39:33","slug":"solvay-ernest-gaston-joseph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/en\/nos-pistes\/personnalites-belges\/solvay-ernest-gaston-joseph\/","title":{"rendered":"SOLVAY Ernest Gaston Joseph"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-227932 alignleft lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image_getborder_hard_V05-227x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"528\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image_getborder_hard_V05-227x300.jpeg 227w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image_getborder_hard_V05-776x1024.jpeg 776w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image_getborder_hard_V05-768x1013.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image_getborder_hard_V05-9x12.jpeg 9w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image_getborder_hard_V05-300x396.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image_getborder_hard_V05-600x792.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image_getborder_hard_V05-45x60.jpeg 45w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image_getborder_hard_V05-68x90.jpeg 68w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image_getborder_hard_V05-scaled.jpeg 758w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 400px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 400\/528;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Ernest Solvay - Life &amp; achievements<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Full name<\/strong> Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Born<\/strong> 16 April 1838 in Rebecq, Belgium\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Deceased<\/strong> 26 May 1922 in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Youth &amp; training<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">He was the son of a quarry master in Rebecq.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Due to pleurisy (a lung disease), he was unable to attend university on a regular basis.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">From the age of 21, he worked in his uncle's gasworks, where he developed a particular interest in chemistry, in particular to make use of ammonia, a by-product of the coal gasification process.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Invention of the Solvay process &amp; creation of the company<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">In 1861, together with his brother Alfred Solvay, he developed a method for making sodium carbonate (soda ash) from brine and limestone, known as the <strong>Solvay process<\/strong> (also known as the ammonia-soda process).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">In 1863, he founded the <strong>Solvay &amp; Cie<\/strong> and set up its first factory at Couillet (near Charleroi, Belgium) to produce soda ash using this process.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">He gradually perfected the process, and in 1872 he began patenting the industrial stages.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">The process, which was more economical and cleaner than the old Leblanc process, enabled Solvay to establish itself internationally.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Solvay factories were set up in several countries: the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Russia, etc.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Scientific and philanthropic commitments<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Solvay used part of his fortune to support science and education.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">In 1894, he founded the\u2019<strong>Institute of Social Sciences<\/strong> (ISS) at the Universit\u00e9 libre de Bruxelles (ULB).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">In 1903, he founded <strong>Solvay Business School<\/strong>, still attached to the ULB.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">In 1911, he organised the first <strong>Solvay Physics Conference<\/strong>, It brought together the great names in physics at the time (Planck, Curie, Einstein, etc.).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">It will also initiate a subsequent series of chemistry conferences and support the creation of research institutes in physics and chemistry.<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-227933 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1280px-1911_Solvay_conference-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"611\" height=\"433\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1280px-1911_Solvay_conference-scaled.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1280px-1911_Solvay_conference-300x213.jpg 300w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1280px-1911_Solvay_conference-1024x726.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1280px-1911_Solvay_conference-768x545.jpg 768w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1280px-1911_Solvay_conference-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1280px-1911_Solvay_conference-400x284.jpg 400w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1280px-1911_Solvay_conference-1080x766.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1280px-1911_Solvay_conference-600x426.jpg 600w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1280px-1911_Solvay_conference-85x60.jpg 85w, https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1280px-1911_Solvay_conference-127x90.jpg 127w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 611px) 100vw, 611px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 611px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 611\/433;\" \/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1 class=\"aASRQG64Toz8QEKNOJE_\" data-testid=\"title\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24pt;\">The 1st Solvay Congress on 3 November 1911<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Participants\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"JfkF3bGO6MbVk1LBirVv\" data-testid=\"caption\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Walther Nernst, Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, Ernest Solvay, Marcel Brillouin, Emil Warburg, Jean Baptiste Perrin, Wilhelm Wien,<\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Marie Sk?odowska-Curie, Henri Poincar\u00e9, Robert Goldschmidt, Max Planck, Heinrich Rubens, Arnold Sommerfeld, Frederick Lindemann, <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Maurice de Broglie, Martin Knudsen, Friedrich Hasen\u00f6hrl, Georges Hostelet, \u00c9douard Herzen, James Jeans, Ernest Rutherford, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, <\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Albert Einstein and Paul Langevin\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"caption\"><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Political career &amp; recognition<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">He was elected twice to the Belgian Senate under the banner of the Liberal Party.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">At the end of his life, he was awarded the honorary title of <strong>Minister of State<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">He also received a number of honours, including the Grand Cordon de l'Ordre de L\u00e9opold (Belgium) and the Grand Cordon de la L\u00e9gion d'honneur (France).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Death and inheritance<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Ernest Solvay died in Ixelles on 26 May 1922, aged 84.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">He is buried in Ixelles cemetery.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">The town of <strong>Solvay (New York)<\/strong> and <strong>Rosignano Solvay<\/strong> (Italy) bear his name, in reference to the factories founded in these regions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Here is a <strong>Solvay historical chronology<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>1838<\/strong> - Birth of\u2019<strong>Ernest Solvay<\/strong> in Rebecq (Belgium).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>1861<\/strong> - Ernest and Alfred Solvay developed <strong>ammonia-soda process<\/strong> (Solvay process).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>1863<\/strong> - Foundation of <strong>Solvay &amp; Cie<\/strong> ; the first plant in <strong>Couillet<\/strong> (Charleroi).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>1872<\/strong> - Patenting and industrial development of the Solvay process.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>The 1870s and 1880s<\/strong> - Start of the\u2019<strong>international expansion<\/strong> (France, UK, Germany, Russia, USA).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>1881<\/strong> - Location at <strong>United States<\/strong> (Syracuse, NY); the city will become <strong>Solvay (NY)<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>1894<\/strong> - Creation of the\u2019<strong>Institute of Social Sciences<\/strong> at the ULB by Ernest Solvay.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>1903<\/strong> - Foundation of <strong>Solvay Business School<\/strong> (ULB).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>1911<\/strong> - 1\u02b3\u1d49 <strong>Solvay Conference<\/strong> (physics) in Brussels; the birth of a series of major scientific conferences.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>1912-1914<\/strong> - Creation of the <strong>Rosignano site<\/strong> (Tuscany, Italy) and start-up of soda ash production.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>1917<\/strong> \u2014 <strong>Forfeiture<\/strong> of Solvay's assets in Russia after the October Revolution.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>1922<\/strong> - Death of Ernest Solvay in Ixelles (Brussels).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>After 1945<\/strong> \u2014 <strong>Nationalisations<\/strong> 15 Solvay sites in Eastern Europe (Romania, Hungary, GDR, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>2011<\/strong> \u2014 <strong>Acquisition of Rhodia<\/strong> by Solvay (\u2248 4.8 bn $ announced).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>2015<\/strong> \u2014 <strong>Acquisition of Cytec Industries<\/strong> (advanced materials) for <strong>5.5 bn $<\/strong> (enterprise value 6.4 bn 1Q4).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>11 Dec. 2023<\/strong> \u2014 <strong>Split<\/strong> of the group :<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Solvay<\/strong> focuses on <strong>essential chemistry<\/strong> (soda, peroxide, silica, etc.).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Syensqo<\/strong> brings together <strong>specialised activities<\/strong> and advanced technologies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">Genealogy SOLVAY Ernest Gaston Joseph<\/span> :<br \/>\n<\/span> <span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-size: 18pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">https:\/\/geniwal.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Genealogie-SOLVAY-Ernest-Gaston-Joseph.docx<br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #ff0000;\">To see the genealogy, copy the link above into your browser<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ernest Solvay \u2014 Vie &amp; r\u00e9alisations Nom complet : Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay N\u00e9 : 16 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227932,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[93,89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nos-pistes","category-personnalites-belges","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227912"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":227940,"href":"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227912\/revisions\/227940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniwal.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}