Skip to content
VitrineRoyal Houses of Europe
Sign in

Baroness Sybille de Selys-Longchamps

b. 1941

Born
28 Aug 1941, Uccle
Country of birth
Belgium

Living person. The family sees only the name, dates and photo; everything else stays private unless they choose to share it.

facts
5
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Uccle

    Birth, Uccle

  2. Child born: Princess Delphine of Belgium

    Birth, Uccle

What was it like?

The world around Uccle, 1941: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Baroness was born around the same time as John Lennon, Pelé, and Bruce Lee.

Born around the same time

  • John Lennon

    1940 · British musician (1940–1980)

  • Pelé

    1940 · Brazilian footballer (1940–2022)

  • Bruce Lee

    1940 · Hong Kong–American martial artist and actor (1940–1973)

  • Muhammad Ali

    1942 · American boxer (1942–2016)

  • Joe Biden

    1942 · 46th President of the United States (2021–2025)

  • Stephen Hawking

    1942 · British theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author (1942–2018)

Fashion

Frugal clothing maintenance habits

People often wore clothing until it was heavily mended; it was not considered shameful to wear a pant with a patch or a sweater with mended elbows. For special occasions, some men would still wear the black jacket and striped trousers they had first worn at their wedding twenty years earlier.

Around 1930–1939

Boys' and youth clothing trends

Starting around 1936, golf breeches that bloused around the calf became popular for Sunday best, while boys typically received their first pair of long trousers around age 17 or 18 as a sign of becoming a man. Children’s weekday clothing was less of a concern, with schoolchildren often wearing iron-shod boots and short trousers.

Music
Around 1929–1939

Radio listening became immensely popular

By 1939, radio listening became a widespread habit in Belgium, with the number of radio sets soaring to over 1.15 million.

Around 1920–1939

The rise of jazz culture

Jazz became a major craze in the 1920s and 1930s, with Belgian cities hosting their first jazz concerts and tournaments for amateur dance orchestras.

Getting around

Wartime travel and fuel costs

During World War II, strict fuel rationing forced civilians to rely on bicycles or overcrowded trams, and private car travel became extremely rare. Petrol for the few permitted vehicles cost between 30 and 50 francs per liter on the black market.

Around 1950–1959

Car travel changes perception of distance

By the 1950s, affluent citizens began shifting their perception of distance, measuring travel not by kilometers, but by the duration of the journey in their private cars.

Daily life

Childhood Chores and Schooling Experiences

Children's daily routines involved chores like fetching water or tending to animals, while schooling was often disrupted, especially during the war years. Some schools eventually introduced amenities like communal showers, though access to such facilities remained a luxury for many.

Daily Life: Water, Heat, and Toilets

Many working-class homes lacked running water and electricity, requiring families to fetch water from a public pump and use coal stoves or gas lamps for heating and lighting. Toilet facilities were typically located outside the main house, often requiring a cold walk to a backyard shed.

Food

Three hours waiting for butter ration

In early 1941, a person had to wait in line for three hours in the cold just to receive a ration of 120 grams of butter.

Wartime bread was sticky and gray

During the 1940s, wartime bread contained additives like pea or bean flour and straw, resulting in a sticky, gray loaf that had to be left for 24 hours before it could be sliced.

Prices and wages

Decline in food budget share

By the late 1940s, food expenses accounted for approximately 45 percent of a worker household's budget, a significant decrease from about 58 percent in 1929.

Work

Common Blue-Collar Jobs in Belgium

Blue-collar jobs were concentrated in industries such as metalwork, mining, transport, construction, and textiles.

Earnings in Domestic and Industrial Work

In 1942, live-in Hungarian maids earned a minimum of 350 BEF per month, while an unskilled labourer in 1945 earned 5.60 francs per hour.

News and letters
Around 1940–1940

Wartime mail delays during 1940

During the disruption of World War II, a letter sent via the Red Cross from France to Belgium took 10 days to reach Brussels in July 1940.

Skilled Belgian postmen delivered mail accurately

Belgian postmen were known for their skill in finding recipients even with incomplete addresses, and residents often tipped them three or four sous for registered mail.

During their lifetime

  1. 1944

    Operation Gutt currency reform

    Following the liberation of Brussels in October 1944, the government carried out Operation Gutt to exchange existing banknotes and curb post-war inflation.

  2. 1956

    First nuclear chain reaction achieved in Belgium

    Belgium successfully achieved its first controlled nuclear chain reaction at the BR 1 research reactor in Mol.

  3. 1958

    Brussels hosts World Fair Expo 58

    The World Fair in Brussels, Expo 58, modernized the country and introduced citizens to a new era of global possibilities.

  4. 1962

    First nuclear electricity connected to grid

    The BR 3 reactor, Belgium's first electricity-producing nuclear reactor, was connected to the power grid.

  5. 1974

    Ban on non-EEC labour immigration imposed

    Following the oil crisis, the Belgian government imposed a ban on unskilled labour immigration from non-EEC countries.

  6. 1999

    Dioxin contamination scandal hits food exports

    A major dioxin contamination scandal led to widespread bans on Belgian food exports and forced the government to resign.

Family

Parents

Children

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.