Achille Van Acker
? Achille Honoré Van Acker listen / i ( born April 8, 1898 in Bruges, † July 10, 1975 ) was a Belgian socialist politician and Prime Minister.
Life
Family, climb to the Minister and the Second World War
Van Acker grew up in a simple working class family with eleven siblings. Even as a six- year-old he had to help his father weaving baskets. After he had already left the age of ten school, he later attended night school. In 1929 he joined the Masonic Lodge " La Flandre " when in Brugge.
From a young age he came into contact with the socialist labor movement and joined soon after, at the Workers' Party ( BWP), the 1945 Socialist Party ( PSB) changed its name. In 1926 he was elected as representative of the BWP in the council of Brugge and already in November 1927 as a member of the Chamber of Deputies. At times, he was also mayor of Bruges.
After the invasion of the Wehrmacht in Belgium in 1940, he took from 1941 to reorganize the tasks increasingly true of its chairman Hendrik de Man resolved BWP. Jr. Together with the later mayor of Ghent and Minister Edward Anseele and others, he founded illegal party offices in Flanders and as of March 1942 in Brussels and Wallonia.
After the return of the exiled government of Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot on September 8, 1944 Van Acker was Minister of Labour and Social Welfare. At the party congress in June 1945, he was then one of the founders of the PSB.
Three-time Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament
After the end of World War II Van Acker struck an impressive political career, in which he later Prime Minister and long-time President of the Parliament was three times.
On 12 February 1945, he was the successor of the first Prime Minister Pierlot and made up to March 13, 1946, two governments with different occupations. During this time he was also Minister of hard coal ( 1945-1946 ). After only a 18-day interim government of Prime Minister Paul -Henri Spaak, he was already Prime Minister on 31 March 1946. In his reigning until August 3, 1946 he was again the Cabinet Minister for Coal and at the same time Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, with specific responsibility for the coordination of economic policy. Because of its coal policy him the nickname " Achille Charbon - " was awarded (coal - Achille ). As already its predecessor government had Van Acker also this time because of the unexplained " Royal Question " by King Leopold III. resign.
In the third cabinet of Spaak he was on 20 March 1947 to August 11, 1949 Minister of Transport.
On 23 April 1954 he was elected to succeed Jean Van Houtte for the third time as Prime Minister. In this office he remained until his replacement by Gaston Eyskens on June 26, 1958. During this reign several social laws were enacted in collaboration with the then Minister of Public Health and Family Edmond Leburton. Van Acker was then called the "father of social security " in the Belgian history.
On December 23, 1958 he received an honorary title was awarded a " minister of state ". On April 27, 1961 he was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies. In this office he remained until 10 March 1974. Too, in this office, Van Acker continued for the unity of Belgium and the protection of pensioners and workers a.
Awards
Swell
- Biography on the website of the Belgium Prime Minister
- List of ministers of the cabinet 1, 1945
- List of ministers of the 2nd Cabinet 1945-1946
- List of ministers of the third Cabinet 1946
- List of ministers of the 4th Cabinet 1954-1958
Background literature
- Policy statement of February 14, 1945
- " Leopold III. Traitor or Patriot? ", Article in The Nation on August 4, 1945
- " Achille 's Heel ", article in Time Magazine from July 22, 1946
- Policy Statement of May 4, 1954