Émile Colling (12 April 1899 – 16 September 1981) was a

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

ish medical doctor and politician.

Life

Colling was born in

Clervaux Clervaux (; or locally ; ) is a commune and town in northern Luxembourg, situated in the canton of the same name. The town's arms, granted in 1896, show three blackbirds on a gold ground in the chief of a red shield, as a variation of the a ...

, as the youngest of 6 children. After attending the Athénée de Luxembourg, he studied medicine in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, Nancy,

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. In 1925, he settled in

Esch-sur-Alzette Esch-sur-Alzette (, ; ; or ''Esch an der Alzig'') is a city in Luxembourg and the country's List of communes of Luxembourg by population, second-most populous commune, with a population of 36,625 inhabitants, . It lies in the south-west of the ...

as a doctor. In 1945 he was made the first director of public health. In the same year, he became manager of the spa in Mondorf and a member of the Consultative Assembly. Politically, he was aligned with the newly founded conservative

Christian Social People's Party The Christian Social People's Party (, , ; CSV or PCS) is the largest political party in Luxembourg. The party follows a Christian democratic and conservative ideology and has been described as centre to centre-right. Furthermore, akin to most ...

. In 1945, he was elected to the city council of Esch, and also to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

for the South district. He was re-elected as a Deputy in 1948 and 1954. In 1954 he became Minister for Agriculture and Public Health in the Bech-Bodson Ministry. He remained in this post from 1958 to 1959 in the Frieden Ministry. Then he became Minister for Labour and Social Security in

Pierre Werner Pierre Werner (29 December 1913 – 24 June 2002) was a Luxembourgish politician of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV) who was the prime minister of Luxembourg from 1959 to 1974 and from 1979 to 1984. Training and early activities Pi ...

's government, until 1964, and thereafter the Minister for Agriculture, Wine-growing, Families, Population and Social Security. In 1967 he became the Luxembourgish ambassador to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, which he remained until 1974. He had five children, including François Colling.

Publications

*''Den Dokter vun der Grenz. E Stéck Escher Chronik vum Emil Colling'', 1899 - 1981. (2005). *''De Fuuss am Krich. Eng lëschteg Reimerei iwwer eng eescht Geschicht'' (1978). 1899 births 1981 deaths People from Clervaux Health ministers of Luxembourg Luxembourgian public health doctors Alumni of the Athénée de Luxembourg Ministers for agriculture of Luxembourg People from Esch-sur-Alzette {{Luxembourg-politician-stub