Birth of Léon Verhelst in Diksmuide, 20 February 1872. He is the 3rd born into a family of 10 children and grew up in his father's brewery, Het Gouden Kruis.

Léon enters the Brewery School at the Catholic University of Louvain, training to become an engineer/brewer.

He graduated with the highest distinction. After a short apprenticeship at Gouden Kruis, he travels abroad for a while, studying new brewing techniques and foreign languages, including English and German.

For the 6 years following, he successfully works for the Rodenbach family.

He left this brewery in Roeselare at the end of 1897 when Professor Jules Vuylsteke, head of the UCL Brewery School, summoned him to assist him at the University.

Léon Verhelst marries Marie Nolfs (Professeur Vuylsteke’s niece).
He is named a Professor at the Brewery School of the Leuven University, a chair that he will hold for 40 years.
Léon Verhelst is also recommended and assigned to the lead of the Artois breweries in Leuven.

Léon Verhelst converts the breweries to a public limited company and becomes the first Chairman of the Brouwerijen Artois NV.  He lays the foundations for the company’s biggest successes.

04.08.1914 : Invasion of Belgium
25.08.1914 : He becomes trapped in his house by the Germans, and succeeds in dodging their shots and escaping ... His house and his personal library are set on fire.
On 16 October he went into exile for an indefinite period. Until his return, he sets up a management of war by exchange of letters with Baron Eugene de Mevius and his son Gustave.

In May, Léon Verhelst returned to fill his chair and the post of President with a wealth of interesting technical findings and the experience of working in complicated circumstances.

He registers the trade mark 'Stella Artois' with the Leuven’s Chamber of Commerce. A Brand that has gained a prestigious reputation since 1927.

He concedes a large amount of money as relief to the 150 mobilized of the brewery and a special help to the families of the workers, in addition to the official help.

Bombing of the cities of Leuven, Antwerp, Liège and Mechelen
Léon Verhelst engages fellow-brewers to help finance the rebuilding of Leuven after bombings of April and May which caused significant damages to the brewery and worker’s houses.

Tough years for the 755 Belgian breweries still active. The rise of Artois is due to its senior management and its 600 attendants of the moment. Léon Verhelst is committed to better information and training for his employees.

He is 76 years old, 50 years with Artois and wishes,  with his wife,  to make a donation after his death of a large part of his possessions on the condition that this permanent donation is destined for the benefit of the Artois brewery’s workforce.

On January 29, the Belgian official journal publishes the bylaws of the ‘Fonds Voorzitter Verhelst’. Its primary goals are to assist employees during difficult times in their lives, but especially, to help them improve their own wellbeing and the development of their children.
In a tribute in his honor on September 15, he expresses he was particularly proud to have contributed to a large part of the company's social initiatives, often long before they became legal obligations.

18 November. Léon Verhelst phones to withdraw from a meeting of the Board of Directors which was to take place the next day. He did not feel well. Around 3 pm, his wife reported that her husband's condition had worsened. Later that day, Léon Verhelst passes away.