Family de Mévius

Their coat of arms, granted in the sixteenth century and still borne today, encapsulates these virtues: Per pale, on the dexter side argent, two laurel branches vert crossed within a laurel wreath of the same; on the sinister side gules, a silver column entwined with a crowned blue serpent, surmounted by a silver star.

The laurel evokes honour and achievement; the column, steadfastness; the serpent, wisdom and vigilance. Together, they form a visual emblem of civic merit ennobled by prudence, a motto silently expressed in heraldic form.

Alliances and Intermarriage that led to a brewing empire.

Through the centuries, the de Mévius family strengthened its social standing by a series of alliances with prominent noble and patrician houses. The most distinguished of these include marriages with the Willems, de Spoelberch, de Lalaing, and van der Straten Ponthoz families, all names that figure among the first rank of Belgium’s aristocracy and industrial elite.
The Willems connection, formed in the eighteenth century through the marriage of Eugène de Mévius and Amélie Willems, was decisive for the family’s fortunes. The Willems were established brewers in Leuven and had long been associated with Stella Artois; their alliance brought both capital and industrial influence, laying the foundation for what would later evolve into the Artois-Interbrew brewing empire. This marriage marks the point at which the de Mévius transitioned from a baronial landowning house to one of the most prominent families of Belgium’s noblesse industrielle.
The Lalaing connection united the de Mévius barony with one of the oldest noble houses of the Low Countries, whose members were counts, marquises, and knights of the Golden Fleece from the fifteenth century onward. The marriage symbolized the merging of an ancient feudal lineage with a modern ennobled house, the meeting of historical prestige and contemporary accomplishment. A seal stamp of the Lalaing family is part of this collection.
Equally significant was the alliance with the counts van der Straten Ponthoz, an old family originally from Flanders. In 1906, Baronne Marthe Élisabeth de Mévius (1885-1955) married Comte Étienne Auguste Henri van der Straten Ponthoz, thereby linking the de Mévius to another branch of Belgium’s high nobility. Their descendants continued to play a role in diplomacy, philanthropy, and industry. A seal stamp of the family is also part of this collection.
These marriages were not merely social arrangements but deliberate strategies of continuity. By interweaving the old noblesse d’épée with the new noblesse industrielle, such unions helped to maintain the aristocracy’s coherence in a rapidly changing economic world.

The Brewing Empire.

The most enduring source of the family’s modern prominence lies in its central role in the creation of the brewing giant AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer. The de Mévius, together with the de Spoelberch, van Damme, and the families allied through intermarriages, were the principal shareholders and architects of what began as Interbrew, formed from the historic breweries Artois and Piedboeuf, followed by the combination with AmBev to create InBev, which later acquired Anheuser-Busch, Grupo Modelo, and SAB, to create the multinational empire known today.

This evolution from noble proprietorship to corporate leadership was guided by prudence and vision. The family invested not as absentee shareholders but as engaged stewards of an enterprise that carried both economic and cultural weight. Beer, after all, was more than a product: in Belgium it was a national heritage. The approach to business preserved this sense of tradition while adopting the professionalism and global outlook demanded by the modern age.
Such economic activity did not diminish the family's noble stature; on the contrary, it redefined it. In a country where the aristocracy often combined old lineage with new enterprise - in banking, industry, and philanthropy - such family stood as a model of responsible capitalism grounded in noble ethos.