The ambassador of Belgium, Mr. Jozef Smets, along with the governor of the Federal District, Mr. Rodrigo Rollemberg, received dozens of guests on May 17 to the inauguration ceremony of the plaque and bust of the Astronomer Luiz Cruls.
The ceremony took place in the Salão Branco do Palácio do Buriti (White Hall of the Buriti Palace), headquarters of the Federal District Government.
Luiz Cruls headed the Exploring Committee to the Central Plateau, which started in Rio de Janeiro in 1892, bound for the city of Uberaba in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, and was intended to demarcate the 14.400km² established by the Brazilian Constitution of 1891, the first Republican Constitution, for the new capital of the Republic. Mr. Luiz Cruls developed the Cruls Report, which is the most complete report on the Brazilian Central Plateau, with notes on botany, geography, geology and zoology.
In attendance for the cerimony there were foreign diplomats, officials of the Federal District government, entrepreneurs, personalities of the cultural area, artists, intellectuals, journalists, students and members of the Brasilia society.
The inauguration of the bust and plaque was in celebration of the date in which it was instituted the Explorer Committee of the Central Plateau. The Mayor of the city of Diest, hometown of Luiz Cruls, Mr. Jan Laurys came from Belgium especially for the event.
The ambassador of Belgium, Mr. Jozef Smets, gave a speech thanking the honor of having a Belgium citizen recognized as of great historical importance for the Federal District of Brazil. Then the Governor of the Distrito Federal (Federal District), Mr. Rodrigo Rollemberg, gave a speech highlighting the importance of the Astronomer Mr. Luiz Cruls for the discovery of the potential of the land that is now known as Brasilia, which is why he found a great importance in the preparation of the plaque and bust inaugurated at the event. Other authorities present at the celebration also made speeches emphasizing the importance of Luiz Cruls for the Federal District. All were very applauded by the attendees.
After the speeches, governor Rollemberg and the ambassador Josef Smets inaugurated the plaque and bust, under the applause of the public. Then, there was offered a cocktail party where everyone socialized enjoying a performance of a musical group that played Brazilian music.
THE GUIDE congratulates the ambassador of Belgium, Mr. Jozef Smets, and the Governor of Distrito Federal, Mr. Rodrigo Rollemberg, for the beautiful initiative for the memory of the important work of the Astronomer Luis Cruls.
