Georges Theunis

Georges Emile Léonard Theunis ( born February 28, 1873 in Montegnée; † January 4, 1966 in Brussels) was a Belgian Catholic politician and Prime Minister.

Political career

Prime Minister from 1921 to 1925

Theunis studied electrical engineering and worked as an engineer in military service. After the First World War he was a member in 1919 of the Commission for Reparation. On 20 November 1920, the then Prime Minister Henri Carton de Wiart appointed him as Minister of Finance. When he served as Prime Minister of 16 December 1921 to 13 May 1925 as the successor of Carton de Wiart himself, he retained the office of the Finance Minister held still. After the occupation of the Ruhr, he sought foreign policy increased contact with Britain. His greatest achievement during this reign was the signing of the Belgo-Luxembourg Economic Union. In June 1923 he joined because of the " language dispute " at the University of Ghent initially by the Office of the Prime Minister back, but was shortly afterwards appointed to that office again.

President of the International Chamber of Commerce

1925, the royal title of honor, he was awarded a " minister of state ". From 1925 to 1926 he was a senator and represented the interests of the Katholieke Partij. From 1929 to 1931 he was President of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). On October 22, 1932 he became Prime Minister Charles de Broqueville to the Minister of Defence, resigned from this office but in the same year back.

Prime Minister from 1934 to 1935

From 20 November 1934 to 25 March 1935, he was again prime minister, succeeding de Broqueville. To combat the economic crisis at that time he appointed experts from the financial industry in his cabinet.

From November 27 1941 to November 4, 1944 he was Governor of the National Bank of Belgium and participated in this function as a special envoy to a conference of the International Monetary Fund, the future United Nations ( UN) in Bretton Woods (USA) part.

In addition to his political duties, he was from 1936 to 1966 president of the Child Protection Association Oeuvre Nationale de l' Enfance (ONE).