Gaston François Marie, viscount Eyskens (1 April 1905 – 3 January 1988) was a

Christian democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democrati ...

politician and

prime minister of Belgium german: Premierminister von Belgien , insignia = State Coat of Arms of Belgium.svg , insigniasize = 100px , insigniacaption = Coat of arms , insigniaalt = , flag = Government ...

. He was also an economist and member of the Belgian Christian Social Party (CVP-PSC). He served three terms as the prime minister of Belgium, holding the position from 1949 to 1950, 1958 to 1961 and 1968 to 1973. During his periods in office, Eyskens was confronted with major ideological and linguistic conflicts within Belgium including the Royal Question in 1950, the School War in 1958, the independence of the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

in 1960 and the split of the University of Leuven in 1970. He oversaw the first steps towards the federalization of Belgium (constitutional reform of 1970).

Family

Eyskens was born in Lier, the son of Antonius Franciscus Eyskens (1875–1948) and Maria Voeten (1872–1960). On 10 August 1931 he married Gilberte Depetter (1902–1981), with whom he had two sons: Erik Eyskens (Leuven 20 July 1935 – Antwerpen 31 August 2008) and

Mark Eyskens Marc Maria Frans, viscount Eyskens (born 29 April 1933), known as Mark Eyskens, is a Belgian economist, professor and politician in the Christian People's Party, now called Christian Democratic and Flemish, and briefly served as the prime minist ...

. His son Mark also became Prime Minister, serving from 6 April 1981 to 17 December 1981.

Career

Academic career

Eyskens studied at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of L ...

where he gained a master and doctorate degree. In 1927 he became

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. In 1931 Eyskens became a professor at the University of Leuven. He later became dean of the economics

faculty Faculty may refer to: * Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage) * Faculty (division) A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject ...

. He also served on the board of Lovanium University in the Congo. Eyskens was made

doctor honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad ho ...

by Columbia University, the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

and the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

Political career

During the early 1930s Eyskens was chief of staff of CVP ministers

Edmond Rubbens Edmond is a given name related to Edmund. Persons named Edmond include: * Edmond Canaple (1797–1876), French politician * Edmond Chehade (born 1993), Lebanese footballer * Edmond Conn (1914–1998), American farmer, businessman, and politici ...

and

Philip Van Isacker Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

. In 1939 Eyskens was elected to the

Belgian Chamber of Representatives The Chamber of Representatives (Dutch: , french: link=no, Chambre des représentants, german: link=no, Abgeordnetenkammer) is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered ...

. He was steadily re-elected ( in 1946,

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

, 1950,

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

and

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

) and served until 1965. In 1945 and between 1947 and 1949 he was

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

. On 11 August 1949 he became Prime Minister of Belgium in a coalition (Eyskens I) between Christian-democrats and liberals. His cabinet fell in June 1950 over the constitutional crisis caused by King Leopold III's actions during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. In the short lived government of

Jean Duvieusart Jean Pierre Duvieusart (10 April 1900 – 10 October 1977) was a Belgian Catholic politician of the PSC-CVP who served as prime minister of Belgium from June to August in 1950. Political career Jean Duvieusart became a member of the Chamber ...

(June–August 1950) Eyskens was Minister of Economic Affairs. Between 26 June 1958 and 6 November 1958, Eyskens led a minority government which was the most recent government of Belgium (Eyskens II) not to be a coalition government. On 6 November, Eyskens formed a coalition government with the liberals (Eyskens III) which remained in power until 3 September 1960. On 3 September 1960 he formed his third government (Eyskens IV), again a coalition with the liberal party. This government fell on 25 April 1961 over the Unitary Law (which raised the fiscal pressure by 7 billion Belgian francs, cut spending in education and the military, and reformed unemployment benefits and government pensions) and had caused large-scale strikes. During these years he also had to deal with the School War and the independence of the

. In the general election of 1965 Eyskens was elected to the

Belgian Senate The Senate ( nl, Senaat, ; french: Sénat, ; german: Senat) is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parli ...

(re-elected in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * J ...

and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

). In the government led by Pierre Harmel (1965–1966) he again served as

. Student unrest and questions of discrimination against the ethnic Flemish population brought down the Belgian government in February 1968. On 17 June 1968, Gaston Eyskens formed his fifth government (Eyskens V); this time a centre-left coalition between the Christian Democrats and the Socialists. On 20 January 1973, he formed his sixth and last government (Eyskens VI), again a coalition with the Socialists. His last two governments were plagued by linguistic troubles regarding the split of the old bilingual

into a Dutch-language university (the

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, ...

), which stayed in Leuven and a French-language university which moved to

Louvain-la-Neuve Louvain-la-Neuve (, French for ''New Leuven''; wa, Li Noû Lovén) is a planned town in the municipality of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Wallonia, Belgium, situated 30 km southeast of Brussels, in the province of Walloon Brabant. The town ...

and became the

Université catholique de Louvain The Université catholique de Louvain (also known as the Catholic University of Louvain, the English translation of its French name, and the University of Louvain, its official English name) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It ...

and the start of the process of changing Belgium from a unitary state into a federation with the creation of the

Communities A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, to ...

. Upon the fall of his last government Gaston Eyskens retired from politics. He died in

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic c ...

Honours

* :

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...

by RD of 5 April 1963. * : Created Viscount Eyskens by RD in September 1973. * : Member of the Royal Academy. * : Commander in the

Order of Leopold II The Order of Leopold II is an order of Belgium and is named in honor of King Leopold II. The decoration was established on 24 August 1900 by Leopold II as Sovereign of the Congo Free State and was in 1908, upon Congo being handed over to Belgium ...

, by RD of 15 February 1946. * : Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Crown, by RD of 8 April 1954. * Knight Commander in the Order of Saint Gregory the Great.

References

External links

Gaston Eyskens at Belgium Prime Minister

Gaston Eyskens at Encyclopædia Britannica

Territorial Party Politics in Western Europe

Gaston Eyskens
i
ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures

Archives of Gaston Eyskens
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ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures

Gaston Eyskens Collection
in KU Leuven Libraries , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Eyskens, Gaston 1905 births 1988 deaths Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni Columbia University alumni Belgian economists Christian Democratic and Flemish politicians Christian Social Party (Belgium, defunct) politicians 20th-century Belgian politicians Politicians from Leuven People from Lier, Belgium Belgian Ministers of State Finance ministers of Belgium Prime Ministers of Belgium Viscounts of Belgium Belgian Roman Catholics People of the Congo Crisis Knights Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Commanders of the Order of Leopold II