Jean-Baptiste Nothomb
Jean -Baptiste Baron de Nothomb ( born July 3, 1805 in Messancy / Province Luxembourg, † September 16, 1881 in Berlin) was a Belgian statesman and diplomat.
After visiting the Athenaeum in Luxembourg Nothomb studied in Liege Jura and Cameralia and settled as a lawyer in Brussels. He took a lively part in the struggle against the government of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and practiced especially in 1829 and 1830 as one of the main editors of the Courrier des Pays -Bas a great influence on the course of daily events that eventually led to the Belgian revolution.
From the Provisional Government appointed a member of the Constitutional Commission, he worked from the Belgian draft constitution and appointed it as a member of Congress, and in November 1830 by the Provisional Government, a member of the diplomatic committee. Nothomb business with zeal and success the establishment of a constitutional monarchy and the separation of church and state, voted for the election of the Duke of Nemours to the king and obtained in 1831 as Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the Ministry van de Weyer after the election of Duke Leopold of the London Congress favorable for Belgium 18 items. The position as General Secretary was him under all ministerial changes, and he was regarded as the main leader of the foreign policy of Belgium. He was also in the Chamber of Deputies, a leader of the moderate party.
In 1837 he received the newly built Ministry of Public Works, Navy, Militia. In this role, he established the then best Belgian railway network and promoted the mining industry. After the fall of the government de Theux 1840, Nothomb resigned from the Cabinet and was appointed Belgian Ambassador to the German Bundestag. Returned to Belgium in 1841, he fell out with Prime Minister Lebeau and his other liberal friends, as he clung to the alliance with the Catholic party. In 1841 he was himself Prime Minister of a new cabinet, which pursued a Catholic- liberal direction, but the division was already the parties could not overcome, and in 1845 the liberal opposition was defeated. He then took over the embassy post in Berlin, where he earned the special trust of the court and to secure the good relations between Germany and Belgium did.
Writings
- Essai historique et politique sur la révolution Belge. Meline, Bruxelles 1833 ( 4th edition 1876).
- Historical- diplomatic representation in international law justification of the Kingdom of Belgium.. Cotta, Stuttgart 1836 ( translation: Adolph Michaelis ).
- Péage of routes. Bruxelles 1938.
- Travaux Publics de Belgique: chemins de fer et routes ordinairs, 1830-1839. . Rémy, Bruxelles 1839 (2nd edition 1840: Google Books )
- La nagivation de la Belgique vers Paris. Rémy, Bruxelles 1840. Google Books
- Statistique de la Belgique. Bruxelles 1848.