Jacques Wiener (1815 - 1899)

Medal and intaglio engraver, community leader (1884-1899).

Born to Hungarian parents from Presburg (H), Jacques Wiener moved with them at the age of two to Venloo in Dutch Limburg. He was apprenticed to his uncle L. Baruch in Aachen (1828), where he learned drawing and engraving, then in Paris (1835), before moving to Brussels in 1839. His first work commemorated the surrender of the town of Venloo to Holland, following the application of the Treaty of the X-V Articles, in 1839. He then specialised in engraving civil and religious monuments, in particular the most beautiful churches in the country. His masterpiece remains a collection of more than forty medals of the most remarkable buildings in Europe. In addition, he was responsible for a number of portraits, including those of William II, Leopold I, Leopold II and Frederick William IV of Prussia, as well as the first Belgian (from 1848) and Dutch postage stamps. Jacques Wiener accompanied the development of Belgian stamps from 1848 to 1864, directing almost all the manufacturing operations. He himself trained his brothers Leopold and Charles in engraving. From 1863 onwards, he was frequently assisted by his brother Leopold, particularly during the period when he almost completely lost his sight. Because of this infirmity, he gave up his art for good in 1874. After serving as vice- president, he succeeded Joseph Oppenheim as president of the Central Jewish Consistory of Belgium from 1884 to 1899. He had already been elected president of the Brussels Jewish Community in 1879 and held this position until 1883.