Flemish people
As a student Lodewijk De Raet became convinced that economy and education had a strong link. In order to be able to compete economically with other regions and to acquire a sufficiently strong position to be able preserve their economic independence, the Flemish people must have "intellectual tools", such as a Flemish university. Together with its friends of "Geen Taal Geen Vrijheid" he created a Flemish "University Extension". In 1899, he graduated in economic sciences at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles.