Subject

Marquis de Villalobar (otherwise Rodrigo de Saavedra). Spanish Minister to Belgium, arrived in Brussels in 1913. As the ambassador of a neutral country he worked tirelessly during WW1 to liaise with the Germans and alleviate some of the suffering in occupied Belgium. He helped arrange the "ravitaillement" which prevented the threatened food shortages. He was one of the people who petitioned to try and save Edith Cavell. After the war King Albert conferred on him the Grand Cordon of the Order of Léopold.