Belgian politician Herman Van Rompuy was born on 31 October, 1947, in Etterbeck.

In 1965 he graduated from the Jesuit College of St Jan Berhmans in Brussels and then studied philosophy and economics at the Catholic University of Leuven, where he earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1968 and a master's in economics in 1971.

In 1972-75 he worked at the Central Bank of Belgium. In 1975-78, he was an adviser to Prime Minister Leo Tindemans, then headed the Centre for Political, Economic and Social Studies (1980- 1988). Those years he worked as a teacher at several educational institutions.

Author of six books on politics and economics.

Van Rompuy's political career is linked to the Christian Democrats and Flemish Party, of which he was a member since 1975. Chairman of the party from 1988 to 1993.

Member of the Senate from 1988 to 1995. In 1995, he was elected to the Belgian House of Representatives. President of the House of Representatives in 2007-2008.

On December 28, 2008, in the midst of a severe internal political crisis, the King of Belgium proposed to Van Rompuy to form a new Cabinet of Ministers. Following the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives on December 30, H.Van Rompuy presented the composition of the new Belgian government. The composition of the cabinet did not differ from the government of Iva Leterma. On January 2, 2009, the Rompuy government received a vote of confidence from the Belgian Chamber of Deputies.

On November 19, 2009, during the informal summit of the European Council in Brussels, he was elected the first full- time President of the European Council. His first term ended on 31 May 2012. On 1 March 2012, Van Rompuy was unanimously re-elected for a second term from 1 June 2012 to 1 December 2014.

On August 30, 2014, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was elected Van Rompuy's successor in the Council of Europe.

According to the Resolution No 6 of the Scientific Council of the Azerbaijan University of Languages ​​dated July 4, 2012, Herman Van Rompuy, European Council President , was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of AUL for his role in strengthening EC-Azerbaijan cooperation.