In 1832, shortly after Belgium's independence, King Leopold I ordered the creation of a commission for the teaching and awarding of official diplomas in veterinary medicine. The School of Veterinary Medicine and Rural Economics () was founded in the centre of the City of Brussels, where the commission was based, on the present site of the Bozar Royal Center for Fine Arts. It was transferred to Cureghem, in the district of Anderlecht, Brussels, in 1836 and changed its name to the Royal Veterinary School of Cureghem (). It would remain the only veterinary school in the country for over a century. Teaching is done in French.