Albert Marteaux (26 January 1886 – 19 May 1949) was a Belgian physician, politician and a leader of the

Belgian resistance The Belgian Resistance (, ) collectively refers to the resistance movements opposed to the German occupation of Belgium during World War II, German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Within Belgium, resistance was fragmented between many ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Biography

Marteaux was born in to a large working-class family. He studied medicine in the Free University of Brussels. Initially he became politically active for the socialist

Belgian Labour Party The Belgian Labour Party (, , BWP; , , POB) was the first major Socialism, socialist party in Belgium. Founded in 1885, the party achieved its first electoral breakthrough in the aftermath of World War I. It was officially disbanded after the Ger ...

(BWP) and was elected councilor of Brussels for this party in 1921. In addition, he was a member of the Chamber of Representatives for the Brussels district from 1926 to 1929 and from 1936 until his death in 1949. In 1939 he switched to the communist

Communist Party of Belgium The Communist Party of Belgium (, , KPB; , , PCB) was a political party in Belgium from 1921 to 1989. The youth wing of KPB/PCB was known as the Communist Youth of Belgium. The party published a newspaper known as ''Le Drapeau Rouge'' in French ...

(KPB) following the policy of the Belgian government (of which the BWP was a part at the time) towards the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. After the German occupation lf Belgian during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Marteaux co-founded the ''Front de l'indépendance'', which was active in the Resistance. After the liberation, Marteaux became Minister of Health for a short time in 1944 in the short -lived Pierlot VI Government. He held this ministerial post from January 1945 to February 1946 and again from March 1946 to March 1947 in the governments of Van Acker I, II, III and Huysmans. From 1947 to 1948, Marteaux was vice-president of the Chamber of Representatives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marteaux, Albert 1886 births 1949 deaths Belgian communists Belgian resistance members Members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) 20th-century Belgian physicians Belgian Army personnel of World War I Belgian Labour Party politicians