Henry Carton de Wiart | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Prime Minister of Belgium | |
| In office 20 November 1920 – 16 December 1921 | |
| Monarch | Albert I |
| Preceded by | Léon Delacroix |
| Succeeded by | Georges Theunis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Henry Victor Marie Ghislain Carton de Wiart (1869-01-31)31 January 1869 |
| Died | 6 May 1951(1951-05-06) (aged 82) Uccle, Belgium |
| Political party | Catholic Party |
| Spouse | Juliette Verhaegen |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Adrian Carton de Wiart (cousin) |
| Education | St Joseph College, Aalst;St Michael College, Brussels |
| Alma mater | Institut Saint-Louis, Brussels;Université libre de Bruxelles |
| Profession | lawyer |
Henry Victor Marie Ghislain, Count Carton de Wiart (1869–1951) was a Belgian writer and statesman who served as thePrime Minister of Belgium from 20 November 1920 to 16 December 1921.
On 31 January 1869, Henry Carton de Wiart was born inBrussels into the aristocratic house ofCarton de Wiart as the son of Diégo Benjamin Constant Carton de Wiart and Marie Clémence Jeanne Cammaerts.[1] He was educated at Jesuit colleges inAalst andBrussels and then studied philosophy at theInstitut Saint-Louis in Brussels before entering the Faculty of Law at theUniversité libre de Bruxelles. While a student he spent some months in Paris, where he took courses at theInstitut Catholique de Paris and theÉcole des Sciences Politiques and attendedPaul Brouardel's lectures on forensic medicine, and also at theUniversity of Bonn, where he took a course in Sociology.[1]
In 1890 Carton de Wiart was called to the bar in Brussels, as an associate ofEdmond Picard. He became noted for his courtroom oratory, and published in several legal journals, as well as writing pieces for theJournal de Bruxelles. In 1894, aged 25, he founded the cultural reviewDurendal, together withPol Demade andHenry Moeller. As a student he was already taking an interest in thesocial question and after the publication of thepapal encyclicalRerum novarum in 1891 he began to be active in democratic politics, helping found a Christian-democratic newspaper under the titleL'Avenir social (The Social Future), that ran until December 1894, and sitting on the board of theLigue Démocratique Belge.[2] In 1895 he was a co-founder of the newspaperLa Justice sociale (Social Justice), which ran until 1902.
In 1896 Carton de Wiart was elected to theBelgian Chamber of Representatives as a left-wing member of theCatholic Party. He remained a Member of Parliament uninterruptedly until his death in 1951.[1] Carton de Wiart attended theTwelfth Inter-Parliamentary Conference, held inSt. Louis, Missouri in 1904, meeting members of different parliaments both in Europe and the Americas, and developing contacts in the United States that would stand him in good stead in 1914. In 1908, Carton de Wiart was among the members of parliament who insisted that Belgium assume authority over theCongo Free State in order to put an end to the misrule that had characterisedKing Leopold's private commercial government there.[1]
He served in the Belgian government asMinister of Justice from 1911 to 1918, most notably introducing a bill on the "protection of childhood", passed in 1912, that established Belgium's juvenile court system and gave the state the authority to remove neglected or abused children from their parents (theLoi sur la protection de l'enfance du 15 mai 1912). From 29 August until 30 September 1914 he acted as one ofAlbert I of Belgium's extraordinary envoys to communicate the position ofinvaded Belgium toPresident Wilson and to the American people.[1][3]
As a member of theBelgian government in exile during theFirst World War, he was particularly active to aid Belgian refugees and prisoners of war, and to publicise the Belgian cause internationally. When the war-time government resigned in November 1918, Carton de Wiart lost his ministry. He was appointed honoraryMinister of State. From 1919 to 1920 he served as deputy speaker of the Chamber of Representatives, in 1919 also undertaking a diplomatic mission to The Hague to restore strained relations with the Netherlands.[1]
In 1920 Carton de Wiart was asked to head a government of national unity in which members of the Catholic Party, Liberal Party and Socialist Party governed together while introducing a series of substantial constitutional reforms, including the introduction ofone man, one vote rather thanplural voting, the payment of members of parliament, and the official abolition of theGarde Civique (inactive since 1914), as well as providing for the introduction ofwomen's suffrage when there would be a two-thirds majority in parliament in favour. A little over a year later, when the reforms had been enacted, the government resigned so that elections could be held under the new system. Henry Carton de Wiart was awarded the title ofcount for his achievement.[1]
No longer a member of the government, Carton de Wiart was re-elected to parliament, where he introduced bills on the prevention of abortion, contraception, family abandonment, the protection of monuments and landscapes, and the introduction offamily allowance.[1] In 1922 he spent four months travelling in theBelgian Congo, on his return suggesting a number of reforms in education and infrastructure.[1][4]
After over a decade as a backbencher, Carton de Wiart returned to government in December 1932 as Minister of Social Welfare, serving until January 1934.[2] In 1934 he became Belgium's permanent delegate to theLeague of Nations.[1] With theGerman occupation of Belgium during World War II, he followed theBelgian Government in Exile first to Limoges and then to London. After the war, in 1948, he introduced the parliamentary bill for full women's suffrage in Belgium (the legal basis for which had already been laid by the government he had headed in 1920-1921).
In August 1949, Carton de Wiart again returned to government, serving first as Minister of National Recovery (1949–1950) and then as Minister of Justice (June to August 1950) in the administration brought down by the "royal question" ofKing Leopold III's return from exile, which he had initially supported and promoted at public meetings.[1]
In 1897, Carton de Wiart married Juliette Verhaegen (1872–1955), a great-granddaughter ofThéodore Verhaegen, the founder of the Université libre de Bruxelles. They had no children.
Henry Carton de Wiart died at the Deux Alice hospital inUccle on 6 May 1951.
Carton de Wiart was an active author throughout his life, not only writing for newspapers, literary reviews, and legal journals, but also publishing novels and memoirs. He was a particular adept of historical fiction. The most extensive (but still incomplete) bibliography of his works runs to 18 printed pages.[5]
His books include:
A second volume ofSouvenirs politiques, incomplete at the time of his death, was published posthumously in 1981.
Belgium:| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Belgium 1920–1921 | Succeeded by |
