Henry Carton de Wiart
Henry Victor Marie Ghislain, Count Carton de Wiart (31 January 1869 – 6 May 1951) was the 23rd prime minister of Belgium from 20 November 1920 to 6 May 1921. He was member of the aristocratic house of Carton de Wiart, his brother Edmond Carton de Wiart was the Grand Marshall of King Baudouin.
Henry Carton de Wiart | |
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23rd 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 | Brussels, Belgium | 31 January 1869
Died | 6 May 1951 82) Uccle, Belgium | (aged
Political party | Catholic Party |
Career
Born in Brussels, Carton de Wiart studied law and became a lawyer. In 1894 he founded the cultural review Durendal, together with Pol Demade and Henry Moeller. He was elected to the Belgian House of Representatives as a left-wing Catholic Party member in 1896. He remained a Member of Parliament until his death in 1951.
Besides serving as prime minister from 1920 to 1921 in a government of national union (Christian Democrats, Liberals and Socialists), he served as minister of justice from 1911 to 1918, as Belgian delegate to the League of Nations from 1928 to 1935, and as minister of social welfare from 1932 to 1934. After the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940, Carton de Wiart accompanied the Belgian government into exile in London.
Having been given the honorific title of Minister of State, Carton de Wiart again served as minister of justice for a short time in 1950. A road in Jette, Belgium, is named in his honour: Avenue Carton de Wiart.
The British general Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart (1880-1963) was the cousin of Henry Carton de Wiart.
Honours
Belgium:
- Croix Civique, First Class[1]
- Minister of State, by royal decree
- Grand Officer in the Order of Leopold, by royal decree of 13 November 1919
- Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold
- Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Crown
- Foreign honours
- Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Saints Michael and George
- Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
- Grand Officer of the Order of Saint-Charles
- Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by Léon Delacroix |
Prime Minister of Belgium 1920–1921 |
Succeeded by Georges Theunis |