For sixty years now, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge have enjoyed close ties with the Université libre de Bruxelles, thanks to a Foundation established by British born Phyllis Agnes Beddington (1903-72). She wanted to honour her beloved husband, a Belgian stockbroker, Philippe Wiener (1904-1944). Phyllis Wiener settled in Britain after the outbreak of the war whilst her husband undertook activities for the resistance in Belgium. Arrested by the Nazis, he was accused of spying and helping the enemy by enabling people to leave the occupied zone. He was deported and died a prisoner in Esterwegen (Prussia). The Wiener family had strong ties to ULB where several family members had studied. In 1967, Phyllis Beddington Wiener added the name of her husband’s close friend, Professor Maurice Anspach, who had supported his family after his death, to that of Philippe Wiener. Thus, the Fondation Wiener-Anspach (FWA) was born. It has gone from strength to strength ever since.
The Fondation Wiener-Anspach has a portfolio of activities. Students from the ULB go to Oxford or Cambridge for postgraduate and postdoctoral Fellowships, whilst graduates of the British universities go to Brussels. Collaborative projects bring together researchers from Oxbridge and their peers at ULB. There are annual Philippe Wiener lectures and guest academics from the UK take up the Ganshof van der Meersch Chair and, since 2025, the Phyllis Beddington Wiener Chair.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Oxford’s faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages has particularly strong ties with the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Among the current postdoctoral cohort, Helen Craske is working on “Saucy French Magazines. Gossip, Sex and Art in Belle Epoque Paris” with Prof. Clément Dessy as her mentor at ULB, whilst Nora Baker’s topic is “Ages of Innocence. Contrasting Cultures of Childhood in the Enlightenment”. Nora’s ULB promoter is Prof. Valérie André. Belgian researcher Nicolas Duriau has just finished a year at Oxford working on male prostitution in early nineteenth-century novels with Prof. Catriona Seth. Harriet McKinley-Smith and Rebecca Short have benefitted from recent scholarships in Brussels thanks to the FWA. Projects supported by the Fondation Wiener Anspach involving MML Faculty members include Symbolism and Decadence as World Literature (with Patrick McGuinness); When Rural meets Urban: Towards A Cultural History of Modernisms in Bohemia 1895-1925 (with Rajendra Chitnis), CAT19 – Panorama of the French-language Novel in the early 19th century (with Catriona Seth) and The Voltaire Project (with Nicholas Cronk).
We asked two FWA funded scholars to tell us a little about their experience. Oxford graduate Dr Nora Baker writes from Belgium:
I came to Brussels in September 2024 to embark on a two-year postdoctoral position at the Université libre de Bruxelles. This has been a wonderful opportunity for me to gain experience working in a Francophone research environment. I have had the chance to collaborate with colleagues working across a range of disciplines, and last term, I taught a course in French to undergraduate students.
I would also encourage those from other Modern Languages sub-faculties to apply for this postdoctoral programme, as the ULB is a very international and welcoming place. Brussels is a perfect city for researchers to live in, as it is very straightforward to travel to other parts of Europe for conferences or archival trips, and its status as a cosmopolitan hub means that newcomers can quickly find their feet within the local community. I am really delighted that I was able to engage in postdoctoral research in such a dynamic and encouraging context.
ULB graduate Dr Nicolas Duriau writes about his stay in Oxford:
Thanks to the Wiener-Anspach Foundation, I had the invaluable opportunity of spending a year at Oxford University (Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages) as a postdoctoral researcher, under the supervision of Professor Catriona Seth. This year spent across the Channel allowed me to mature both personally and professionally. Not only did I meet people from all backgrounds—which was a good chance to have stimulating conversations about foreign cultures and research—, but I also benefited from a very inspiring atmosphere that helped me write my first book, based on my doctoral thesis (“Prostitué” avant la lettre? (1783-1922). Écrire les prostitutions masculines au XIXe siècle, published by Classiques Garnier in December 2025).
All of us here at Oxford MML wish the Fondation Wiener Anspach a very happy birthday and look forward to the next sixty years of collaborating with our friends and colleagues from Brussels!