Antoine Édouard Ducpétiaux (29 June 1804, Brussels – 21 July 1868, Brussels) was a Belgian journalist and social reformer. In 1827 he obtained his doctorate from the University of Ghent, being admitted to the bar in Brussels during the following year. He quickly became known as an opponent of the death penalty and fervent defender of freedom of the press. Ducpétiaux was at some time a member of the masonic lodge "Les Vrais Amis de l'union et du progrès réunis" in Brussels. It has also been claimed that he was a member of the elite twelve-member dining club known as the "Société des douze".