Famous Belgian – Birthday of Adolphe Sax

In a moment of proud-to-be-of-Belgian heritage, I am sharing the fact that  today is the birthday of Adolphe Sax,  the inventor of the saxophone in the mid-nineteenth century.

He was born in Dinant, Belgium on Nov. 6, 1814, the oldest of eleven children.  He had a rather eventful childhood, with several near death experiences, performance competitions at the age of 15 and learning the craft of instrument making in his father’s workshop.

Google’s doodle today was of Adolphe Sax.  And this article at heavy.com tells the sad story of his life – constant lawsuits from other instrument makers and bankrupt three times.

Adolphe Sax: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know