Ahead of his time 
Ernest Solvay was also a man of progressive social ideals, which he implemented within his factories. He voluntarily established a social security system, pensions for the workers in 1878, an 8-hour workday in 1897, and paid vacations in 1913, long before it was introduced by the most socially advances nations.

After becoming wealthy, he looked to society at large, and founded several scientific, philanthropic, and charitable foundations, including the Institutes of Physiology (1895) and of Sociology (1901), as well as the prestigious School of Business (1903) in Brussels which still bears his name.

“…I have always sought to serve science, because I love science
and I see it as a promise of progress for mankind.”
Ernest Solvay, speaking in Brussels, December 4, 1893

Physics council
His overriding passion for science was again expressed in 1911 when he organized a meeting in Brussels of most of the famous physicists and chemists of the time.
Participants included Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Ernest Rutherford, Raymond Poincaré and the Duke Louis de Broglie.

This was the birth of the "Conseil Solvay", which is still meeting nowadays, assembling some of the most brilliant scientists in the world.

Despite his consistently fragile health, Ernest Solvay lived a full and intense life until the age of 83. The contributions he made to society during his lifetime, and the industrial and social legacy he left behind, are both impressive and an inspiration to many.

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