Georges Theunis

Georges Theunis
24th Prime Minister of Belgium
In office 20 November 1934 – 25 March 1935
Monarch	Leopold III
Preceded by	Charles de Broqueville
Succeeded by	Paul van Zeeland
In office 16 December 1921 – 13 May 1925
Monarch	Albert I
Preceded by	Henri Carton de Wiart
Succeeded by	Aloys Van de Vyvere
Governor of the National Bank of Belgium
In office 1941–1944
Preceded by	Albert Goffin
Succeeded by	Maurice Frère
Personal details
Born	(1873-02-28)28 February 1873 Montegnée, Belgium
Died	4 January 1966(1966-01-04) (aged 92) Brussels, Belgium
Political party	Catholic Party

Georges (George) Emile Léonard Theunis (28 February 1873 – 4 January 1966) was the 24th Prime Minister of Belgium from 16 December 1921 to 13 May 1925 and again from 20 November 1934 to 25 March 1935. He was governor of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) from 1941 until 1944.

He received a military training and was also trained as an engineer. Georges Theunis started his career in the Empain group, where he was an administrator and later the president of the board of ACEC. During World War I, he headed the Belgian Wartime Provisions Commission in London. After the war he was involved in the Paris Peace Conference, 1919 and served as the Belgian delegate to the Reparations Commission. From 1926 until 1927 he chaired the International Economic Conference in Geneva.

In 1926 he joined the newly formed council of regency of the National Bank, together with Emile Francqui, and remained a member until the war, except for two breaks during his ministerial duties. As regents of the NBB, both Theunis and Francqui represented the power which the large private banks had gained since 1926. During World War II he served as a special ambassador to the United States of America. In 1941, he was appointed governor of the National Bank of Belgium by the Pierlot government in exile at London instead of Albert Goffin who had been appointed by Secretary General Charles Plisnier. On his return to Belgium after the war, he resigned as governor of the NBB.

Honours

• Belgium: Minister of State, by Royal Decree.
• Belgium: Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold
• France: knight Grand Cross Legion of Honour
• United Kingdom: Order of Saint Michael and Saint George
• Grand Cross in the Order of Saint Gregory the Great, 1932.

Sources

• Georges Theunis on the site of the Belgian Federal Government
• Georges Theunis
• A tribute to America, the U.S.A. at war as seen through Belgian eyes A speech by Theunis

External links

• Newspaper clippings about Georges Theunis in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW