POTTER United Families

214
Medal of Honnor of the Belgian Revolution with palms
Created by Louis de Potter and his team around 1832
Highest decoration of merit in Belgium
In his vocational "right of the youth for progress", Louis seems to
have been friendly, charming and sophisticated to the anti snobbish
youth of that time. Had he stayed in Italy and in France, he might
have remained one of the many bright young expatriates who
travelled in the best circles of both countries. But he came back for a
noble and patriotic mission in Brussels...
Upon his return, he soon found a worthy cause to write for... Belgian
freedom! His homeland had acquired an influential journalist and an
eloquent spokesman: Luigi de Potter, the Bruges Italian-French man.
The country that Louis returned to in 1823 was becoming the second
most highly industrialized nation in Europe, following the lead of
England. King William had instigated some of his benevolent,
autocratic, projects; the region was feeling the first effects of what
was to be its industrial revolution.
The population was starving and in search of the romantic “Italian
Renaissance Style” (Buonarotti, Battistini), the rebellious “French
Liberty Wench” (Lafayette, Stendhal, Balzac, Hugo), the reassuring
“Swiss Social System” (barons Colins and Rebecque), all shaped with
the influence of Louis and his friends...