Belgian chemist, academic, and politician, 68th Prime Minister of Belgium

Elio Di Rupo

Elio Di Rupo is a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 2011 to 2014, heading the Di Rupo Government, and as minister-president of Wallonia for three non-consecutive terms between 1999 and 2024. He was the first francophone to hold the prime ministership since Paul Vanden Boeynants in 1979, and the country's first socialist prime minister since Edmond Leburton left office in 1974. Di Rupo was also Belgium's first prime minister of non-Belgian descent, and the world's second openly gay person and first openly gay man to be head of government in modern times.

Born

1951

July 18

Died

Living

Era

1950s

Country

—

About

Elio, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1951 Born

Also on July 18

What else happened on this day, through history

-477 Battle of the Cremera as part of the Roman–Etruscan Wars. Veii ambushes and defeats the Roman army.
362 Roman–Persian Wars: Emperor Julian arrives at Antioch with a Roman expeditionary force (60,000 men) and stays there for nine months to launch a campaign against the Persian Empire.
452 Sack of Aquileia: After an earlier defeat on the Catalaunian Plains, Attila lays siege to the metropolis of Aquileia and eventually destroys it.
645 Chinese forces under general Li Shiji besiege the strategic fortress city of Anshi (Liaoning) during the Goguryeo–Tang War.

See all of July 18 →

The world in 1951

When Elio arrived

april 11 Korean War: President Truman relieves Douglas MacArthur of the command of American forces in Korea and Japan.
april 11 The Stone of Scone, the stone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned, is found on the site of the altar of Arbroath Abbey. It had been taken by Scottish nationalist students from its place in Westminster Abbey.
april 17 The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom's first National Park.
april 22 Korean War: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong.

Read the year 1951 →

Same-day contemporaries

Also born on July 18

Clifford Odets 1906–1963 American director, playwright, and screenwriter (born 1906) Edward Bond 1934– English director, playwright, and screenwriter (died 2024) Hendrik Lorentz 1853–1928 Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1853) Hunter S. Thompson 1937–2005 American journalist and author (born 1937) Nelson Mandela 1918–2013 South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918) Philip Snowden 1864–1937 1st Viscount Snowden, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (died 1937) Sarah Kinsley 2000– American singer-songwriter Vasil Levski 1837–1873 Bulgarian activist, founded the Internal Revolutionary Organization (born 1837)

See everything on July 18 →

Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1951

Alley Mills 1951– American actress Andrei Kozyrev 1951– Belgian-Russian politician and diplomat, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Russia Ashok Gehlot 1951– Indian politician, 21st Chief Minister of Rajasthan Barry Marshall 1951– Australian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Bobby Jones 1951–1971 American basketball player Bootsy Collins 1951– American singer-songwriter and bass player Charly García 1951– Argentine singer-songwriter and keyboard player Chesley Sullenberger 1951– American airline pilot and safety expert Chris Cooper 1951– American actor

Read about the year 1951 →

Keep going

More to explore

Elio's birthday July 18 Elio's zodiac Cancer When Elio arrived 1951