Jules Destrée

Jules Destrée (; Marcinelle, 21 August 1863 – Brussels, 3 January 1936) was a Walloon lawyer, cultural critic and socialist politician. The trials subsequent to the strikes of 1886 determined his commitment within the Belgian Labour Party. He wrote a ''Letter to the King'' in 1912, which is seen as the founding declaration of the Walloon movement. He is famous for his quote "Il n'y a pas de Belges" (''There are no Belgians''), pointing to the lack of patriotic feelings in Flemings and Walloons, while pleading for some kind of federal state. Provided by Wikipedia