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History of the company/bank and archive description for AGFA-GEVAERT N.V.
History of the
company/bank:		 In 1894 Lieven Gevaert founded a small company in Antwerp, the L. Gevaert & Co. , for the manufacture of a photographic paper. In 1920 this company became the N.V. Gevaert Photo-Producten. The field of activities then was the manufacture and distribution of photographic products. The N.V. Gevaert Photo-Producten merged in 1964 with Agfa Aktiengesellschaft, D-Leverkusen, to become the Agfa-Gevaert Group.
The current field of activities includes the development, manufacture, and distribution of analog and digital imaging products.
Archive description The Agfa-Gevaert N.V. Historical Archives collect and document anything that gives information or supplies evidence about Lieven Gevaert, L. Gevaert & Co. , N.V. Gevaert Photo-Producten, and Gevaert-Agfa N.V. (roughly between 1868 and 1971).
The archives include business records, photographs, posters, video-registrations, cinematographic films, advertisments, small instruments, brochures, newsletters, packing material, ephemera, memorabilia ... Shelf size : about 250 m. Records of other companies belonging to the Group are only passively collected. There exists a written index of descriptors.
Records were lost in 1935 when, after the death of Lieven Gevaert, most documents dating from the founding period (1894 - 1920) were destroyed. Starting in 1963 'Gevaertiana' were collected on a private basis. From 1985 on the Historical Archives received regularly historically interesting archivalia coming from the company archives and still actively tries to acquire useful information, e.g. by oral history interviews.

Staff of the archive : Six part time retired former company staff members
Publications Under the auspices of the Historical Archives the following books on the history of the Company were published :
  • Roosens , L. / Janssens , W. / Nooyens , F. : "Arbeid Adelt". Een geschiedenis van de door Lieven Gevaert opgerichte fotografische industrie. Deel 1 : De Pioniersjaren 1894 - 1920 (published by the Company in 1993).
  • Roosens , L. / Janssens , W. / Henau , Anne / Hens , J. : "Arbeid Adelt". Delen 2A, 2B, 2C : De scharnierjaren 1920 - 1940 (published in 1996).
  • Janssens , W. : "Arbeid Adelt". Deel 3 : Een nieuwe vuurproef 1940 - 1945 (published in 1998).
  • Roosens , L. : "Arbeid Adelt". Deel 4 : De opzoekingsdiensten Fotochemie 1898 - 1964 (published in 1997).
Other volumes of the series are actually in progress. They will chronicle the history of the N.V. Gevaert Photo-Producten up to the year 1964 (1971).
  • Jansens , W. : "Lieven Gevaert. Momenten uit zijn leven". Gent : Mens en Kultuur. 1994.
A Manual describes the organization and activities of the Historical Archives. Articles appeared in the Company´s staff magazine and in year books published by a local history circle.
Conditions of use The Agfa-Gevaert N.V. Historical Archives are open to qualified researchers. Some documents are embargoed. The conditions to this accessibility are obtained addressing a written and motivated demand to Mr. L. de Visscher, Manager Corporate Communications (Dept. 8000) of Agfa-Gevaert N.V.

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