Georges Theunis
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|
Georges Theunis | |
|---|---|
 Theunis in 1921 | |
| 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 | 28 February 1873 Montegnée, Belgium |
| Died | 4 January 1966 (aged 92) Brussels, Belgium |
| Political party | Catholic Party |
Georges (George) Emile Léonard Theunis (28 February 1873 – 4 January 1966) was the 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) in exile in London, from 1941 until 1944. He was also the minister of Finance from 1920 to 1925.
Life
[edit]Theunis received 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, in 1919 and served as the Belgian delegate to the Reparations Commission. In May 1927 he chaired the World Economic Conference in Geneva.
In 1926 Theunis 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
[edit]
Belgium: Minister of State, by Royal Decree.[1]- Belgium: Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold
Czechoslovakia: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Lion
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. [2]
References
[edit]- ^ "THEUNIS". www.ars-moriendi.be. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
- ^ "ODIS". www.odis.be. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
Sources
[edit]- Georges Theunis on the site of the Belgian Federal Government[permanent dead link]
- Georges Theunis
- A tribute to America, the U.S.A. at war as seen through Belgian eyes A speech by Theunis
Further reading
[edit]- Thielemans, Marie-Rose (1979). "La chute du gouvernement d'union nationale et la formation du cabinet Theunis, 1921". Revue belge de Philologie et d'Histoire. 57 (2): 364–393. doi:10.3406/rbph.1979.3240.
External links
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| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
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- 1873 births
- 1966 deaths
- People from Saint-Nicolas, Liège
- Catholic Party (Belgium) politicians
- Finance ministers of Belgium
- Prime ministers of Belgium
- Ministers of state of Belgium
- Governors of the National Bank of Belgium
- Belgian civil servants
- Ministers of defence of Belgium
- Grand Crosses of the Order of the White Lion
- Belgian politician stubs