Alumni of the Ath\u00e9n\u00e9e de Luxembourg

William_Justin_Kroll

See also German classic philologist, Wilhelm Kroll (philologist) (1869–1939).William Justin Kroll (born Guillaume Justin Kroll; November 24, 1889 – March 30, 1973) was a Luxembourgish metallurgist. He is best known for inventing the Kroll process in 1940, which is used commercially to extract metallic titanium from ore.

Jean_Bernard_(priest)

Jean Bernard (13 August 1907 – 1 September 1994) was a Catholic priest from Luxembourg who was imprisoned from May 1941 to August 1942 in the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau. He was released for nine days in February 1942 and allowed to return to Luxembourg, an episode which he later wrote about in his memoirs of the camp and which was turned into a film.

Michel_Welter

Dr. Michel Welter (21 March 1859, Heiderscheid – 22 April 1924) was a Luxembourgish politician, and former leader of the Socialist Party. A member of Luxembourg's Chamber of Deputies, he served as the Director-General for Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry from 24 February 1916 until 3 January 1917, during the German occupation.He was one of the fiercest defenders of Victor Thorn's National Union Government. Poorly implemented policies designed to avoid a food shortage back-fired, and the country only narrowly averted a famine. Welter, as the minister responsible for both agriculture and commerce, was held responsible; on 22 December, Welter was censured by the Chamber of Deputies. Although Thorn sought to avoid firing Welter, he was left with no choice, and replaced him with Ernest Leclère.
Born on 21 March 1859 in Heiderscheid to a family of modest means, he studied at several European universities, before settling in Esch-Alzette as a doctor. His work as a physician brought him into contact with the miners and railway workers there, and it was their poor living and working conditions which drove him to take up politics. He campaigned for women's right to vote, paid holidays, social security and decent housing for workers.In 1896 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time, where his social campaigning soon earned him the nickname "de rouden Dokter" (= "the red doctor"). Yet Welter, seen as a radical by the middle-class Deputies, was criticised by the workers for his own middle-class background.In 1902, Welter moved to Luxembourg city, where he co-founded the Social-Democratic Party. He was Luxembourg's delegate at the Second International and came into contact with Jean Jaurès, Clara Zetkin and August Bebel.From 1896 to 1897 he wrote for the Escher Courrier, then for the Patriot, the Escher Volksblatt, the Escher Journal, and the Frankfurter Zeitung. From 1913 to 1916 he edited the Tageblatt. Throughout his career, he got into several fights with the conservative Luxemburger Wort.In the debate over the Education Law of 1912 he campaigned for a strict separation of church and state. In 1916 he was appointed to the Thorn government, as minister for agriculture, commerce, and industry. His time as a member of the government was brief and difficult. He was accused of having made an agreement with the German occupiers to allow the import of badly needed food supplies into Luxembourg. Such an agreement was impossible due to Luxembourg's neutral status. He was dismissed from the government on 2 January 1917 and became director of the medical section of the spa in Mondorf.
Towards the end of the war he was a member of the Luxembourgish Soviet, which called for the nationalisation of the iron industry, the introduction of the 8-hour day, the abdication of the Grand Duchess and the establishment of a republic. The question over the dynasty and the form of government was decided in the 1919 referendum; the same year saw the introduction of women's suffrage. Welter joined the Chamber of Deputies again in 1920, but was not re-elected in 1922.Two years later, he died of a stroke, in 1924.
The city of Esch dedicated a monument to him on 21 August 1927 in the park on the Galgenberg, with the inscription: À l'ami du peuple - la classe ouvrière reconnaissante ("To the friend of the people - the grateful working class").

Félix_Thyes

Félix Thyes (19 January 1830 – 8 May 1855) was a Luxembourg writer. He is recognized as the first Luxembourg author to write a novel in French. Marc Bruno, profil d'artiste was published shortly after his death in 1855. He was also the first literary historian to discuss literature written in Luxembourgish.

Auguste_Metz

Jean-Antoine Auguste Metz (8 August 1812 – 22 June 1854) was a Luxembourgian entrepreneur, politician, and lawyer. He was a major player in the growing steel industry in Luxembourg during the nineteenth century, as well as a leading liberal member of the Chamber of Deputies, along with his brothers.
Born in Luxembourg City as the youngest of nine children of Jean Metz, Auguste Metz attended the Athénée de Luxembourg, before leaving to study law at the University of Paris in 1833. He gained his licence to practice law in France, but returned to Luxembourg, where he became involved in the steel industry. In 1837, Metz and his brothers Charles and Norbert, were given a ten-year lease of the steel mill at Berbourg. They formed a company, Auguste Metz & Cie, along with Théodore Pescatore, for the purpose of expanding and redeveloping the site. The company expanded, taking over foundries at Grundhof, in the Red Lands, at Eich, and at Fischbach.He first became involved in politics through his opposition to the Third Partition of Luxembourg in 1839. In 1848, Metz sat on Luxembourg's Constituent Assembly, and then the first Chamber of Deputies, elected in 1848 to represent Grevenmacher. He was targeted in the 1854 election by the Simons government. He would not live to see the assembly of the new Chamber of Deputies, however, as he died in Eich just eight days after the election, having fallen ill inspecting the foundry at Berbourg, exacerbated by tonsillitis.He married Petronille Laeis on 17 August 1841. They had four children, including Léon Metz, who became a member of the Chamber of Deputies for forty-three years and Mayor of Esch-sur-Alzette for three years.

Laurent_Menager

Laurent Menager (1835–1902) was a Luxembourg composer, choirmaster, organist and conductor who is often referred to as Luxembourg's national composer. He founded the national choral association Sang a Klang (1857) and composed many songs, orchestral music and operettas as well as music for brass bands and the theatre.

Émile_Mayrisch

Jacob Émile Albert Mayrisch (10 October 1862 – 5 March 1928) was a Luxembourgian industrialist and businessman. He served as president of Arbed.
He was married to Aline de Saint-Hubert, who was a famous women's rights campaigner, socialite and philanthropist, and was President of the Luxembourg Red Cross.
He died in a car accident at Châlons-sur-Marne, in France, in 1928.