Leopold II (of Belgium) (1835-1909), king of Belgium (1865-1909). The son of King Leopold I, he was born in Brussels and originally named Louis Philippe Marie Victor. At an early age he entered the Belgian army, and in 1853 he married Maria Henrietta, daughter of Joseph, archduke of Austria. In 1876 Leopold organized an international association to develop central Africa, and he financed the expedition to the Congo River led by the British-American explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley from 1879 to 1884. At the Berlin West Africa Conference of 1884 and 1885, Leopold was recognized as sovereign of the Congo Free State, annexed to Belgium as the Belgian Congo in 1908, and now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire). Leopold incurred widespread criticism for his exploitation of the people and natural resources of Congo, and, because of international protests, he was forced to institute modest reforms. He was succeeded by his nephew Albert I.