So who was John Cockerill, whose statue in Place Luxembourg was partially dismantled by protesting farmers this week (on 1 February 2024)?

John Cockerill (3 August 1790 – 9 June 1840) was an English-born industrialist who became a prominent businessman in Belgium. Born at Haslingden, Lancashire, England, he was brought by his father (British entrepreneur William Cockerill) to the Liège region, where he continued the family tradition of building wool-processing machinery.

He founded an ironworks named John Cockerill & Cie that became a pioneer of the iron and steel industry in Belgium and he was also a very significant contributor to the development of the railways in the country during the early 1800s. The John Cockerill foundry also cast the giant Lion that dominates the battleground of Waterloo.

Inaugurated in 1872, the monument to John Cockerill was probably erected in front of Brussels-Luxembourg station because it was one of the first stations in Brussels, and Cockerill's workshops supplied some of Belgium's first rails, wagons and locomotives.

You can find out more about the life and works of John Cockerill in this YouTube documentary.

Thanks to Simon Pascoe for his research on the life of John Cockerill.