Georges Theunis

Georges Theunis
Georges Theunis
	Theunis in 1921
Prime Minister of Belgium
	In office; 20 November 1934 – 25 March 1935
Monarch	Leopold III
Preceded by	Charles de Broqueville
Succeeded by	Paul van Zeeland
	In office; 16 December 1921 – 13 May 1925
Monarch	Albert I
Preceded by	Henri Carton de Wiart
Succeeded by	Aloys Van de Vyvere
Governor of the National Bank of Belgium
	In office; 1941–1944
Preceded by	Albert Goffin
Succeeded by	Maurice Frère
Personal details
Born	28 February 1873; Montegnée, Belgium
Died	4 January 1966 (aged 92); Brussels, Belgium
Political party	Catholic Party

Georges (George) Emile Léonard Theunis (28 February 1873 – 4 January 1966) was the prime minister of Belgium from 16 December 1921 to 13 May 1925 and again from 20 November 1934 to 25 March 1935. He was governor of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) in exile in London, from 1941 until 1944. He was also the minister of Finance from 1920 to 1925.

Life

Theunis received military training and was also trained as an engineer. Georges Theunis started his career in the Empain group, where he was an administrator and later the president of the board of ACEC. During World War I, he headed the Belgian Wartime Provisions Commission in London. After the war he was involved in the Paris Peace Conference, in 1919 and served as the Belgian delegate to the Reparations Commission. In May 1927 he chaired the World Economic Conference in Geneva.

In 1926 Theunis joined the newly formed council of Regency of the National Bank, together with Emile Francqui, and remained a member until the war, except for two breaks during his ministerial duties. As regents of the NBB, both Theunis and Francqui represented the power which the large private banks had gained since 1926. During World War II he served as a special ambassador to the United States of America. In 1941, he was appointed governor of the National Bank of Belgium by the Pierlot government in exile at London instead of Albert Goffin who had been appointed by Secretary General Charles Plisnier. On his return to Belgium after the war, he resigned as governor of the NBB.

Honours

Belgium: Minister of State, by Royal Decree.^[1]
Belgium: Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold
Czechoslovakia: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Lion
France: knight Grand Cross Legion of Honour
United Kingdom: Order of Saint Michael and Saint George
Grand Cross in the Order of Saint Gregory the Great, 1932. ^[2]

References

^ "THEUNIS". www.ars-moriendi.be. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
^ "ODIS". www.odis.be. Retrieved 11 August 2018.

Sources

Georges Theunis on the site of the Belgian Federal Government^{[permanent dead link‍]}
Georges Theunis
A tribute to America, the U.S.A. at war as seen through Belgian eyes A speech by Theunis

External links

Newspaper clippings about Georges Theunis in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Political offices
Preceded by Henri Carton de Wiart	Prime Minister of Belgium 1921–1925	Succeeded by Aloys Van de Vyvere
Preceded by Charles de Broqueville	Prime Minister of Belgium 1934–1935	Succeeded by Paul van Zeeland
Government offices
Preceded by Albert Goffin	Governor of the National Bank of Belgium 1941–1944	Succeeded by Maurice Frère

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[1] "THEUNIS". www.ars-moriendi.be. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2018.

[2] "ODIS". www.odis.be. Retrieved 11 August 2018.

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