While those less informed might mistake some of them for French or Dutch, you need only read Schott’s Original Miscellany (or visit the website
www.famousbelgians.net) and you’ll find plenty of recognisable Belgian names, as well as a great many whom you really should know. Plastic Bertrand, Kim Clijsters, Peter Paul Rubens, Jean-Claude van Damme, Liz Claiborne and Dries van Noten probably come in the first category, with Adolphe Sax (creator of the saxophone), Albert Claude (the first scientist to isolate the cancer virus) and Eddy Merckx (one of only three cyclists to win the Tour de France five times) falling into the second. But even these worthy names are eclipsed by what might be considered The Big Three: Audrey Hepburn, Tintin and René Magritte.