Charles Gérard Emmanuel Metz (6 January 1799 – 24 April 1853) was a Luxembourgian politician, journalist, and lawyer. He was a prominent pro-Belgian in the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. ...

, serving in the Belgian national legislature, before entering 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 Bourbon ...

of Luxembourg, of which he was the first

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

, from 1848 to 1853. Charles was born in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the G ...

in 1799 to Jean Metz and Anne-Marie-Justine Gérard. He studied at the

Athénée de Luxembourg The Athénée de Luxembourg ( en, Luxembourg Athenaeum), is a high school situated in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. Throughout the school's history of more than 400 years, the name was changed repeatedly. It's nowadays commonly called ...

and the

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Est ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, before reading law at the newly established

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301� ...

, graduating in 1822. Metz first became politically active as a pro-Belgian spokesperson during the

. In the

National Congress ''National Congress'' is a term used in the names of various political parties and legislatures . Political parties *Ethiopia: Oromo National Congress *Guyana: People's National Congress (Guyana) *India: Indian National Congress *Iraq: Iraqi Nati ...

called in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Metz was one of sixteen

deputies A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for e ...

representing the

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements'' ...

of Luxembourg (claimed in its entirety by Belgium).Mersch (1963), p. 430 In 1836, Metz moved to

Arlon Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is th ...

, where he established a newspaper, ''L'Echo de Luxembourg'', to promote Luxembourgian and liberal interests, along with

Emmanuel Servais Lambert Joseph Emmanuel Servais (11 April 1811 – 17 June 1890) was a Luxembourg politician. He held numerous offices of national importance, foremost amongst which was in serving as the fifth Prime Minister of Luxembourg, for seven years, fr ...

and

Victor Tesch Victor Jean-Baptiste Tesch (12 March 1812 – 16 June 1892)Gardini, Fausto Luxembourgensia.blogspot.co.uk. 2012. Retrieved on 30 October 2013. was a Luxembourgish and Belgian jurist, industrialist, journalist and liberal politician. He was born in ...

. In 1837, Metz was elected to the Chamber of Representatives, representing

Grevenmacher Grevenmacher (; ) is a commune with town status in eastern Luxembourg, near the border with Germany. It gives its name to and is the capital of the canton of Grevenmacher, and, until its abolition in 2015, the district of Grevenmacher. The town ...

until 1841. He urged the Belgians to enter negotiations with the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, but spoke against the

Third Partition of Luxembourg There have been three Partitions of Luxembourg between 1659 and 1839. Together, the three partitions reduced the territory of the Duchy of Luxembourg from to the present-day area of over a period of 240 years. The remainder forms parts of mode ...

, ultimately voting against the

Treaty of London The Treaty of London or London Convention or similar may refer to: *Treaty of London (1358), established a truce between England and France following the Battle of Poitiers *Treaty of London (1359), which ceded western France to England *Treaty of ...

.Mersch (1963), p. 432 In 1839, he stood for election to the Chamber of Representatives for

Bastogne Bastogne (; nl, Bastenaken, ; german: Bastnach/Bastenach; lb, Baaschtnech) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Bastogne ...

, but lost, remaining as representative of now-partitioned Grevenmacher. Metz, along with his younger brothers

Auguste Auguste may refer to: People Surname * Arsène Auguste (born 1951), Haitian footballer * Donna Auguste (born 1958), African-American businesswoman * Georges Auguste (born 1933), Haitian painter * Henri Auguste (1759–1816), Parisian gold and ...

and

Norbert Norbert is a Germanic given name, from ''nord'' "north" and ''berht'' "bright". Norbert is also occasionally found as a surname. People with the given name Academia * Norbert Angermann (born 1936), German historian * Norbert A’Campo (born 1941 ...

, established the steel company ''Auguste Metz & Cie'' in 1838, but he played little active role in its operations. Metz was allowed to return to the (smaller) Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to practise law in 1842. With the collapse of the Orangist ''Journal de la Ville et du Pays Luxembourg'' in 1844, Metz went about establishing the new ''Courrier de Luxembourg'', along with his brother Norbert and other leading liberals, as well as the conservative Orangist Mathieu-Lambert Schrobilgen, with whom the ideological split became more and more apparent over time.Mersch (1963), p. 434 During 1848, Metz was elected to the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected ...

, being elected to represent the

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...

of Esch and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

, but opting to represent the latter. The Metz brothers narrowly failed to defer Luxembourg sending a delegation from Luxembourg to the

Frankfurt Parliament The Frankfurt Parliament (german: Frankfurter Nationalversammlung, literally ''Frankfurt National Assembly'') was the first freely elected parliament for all German states, including the German-populated areas of Austria-Hungary, elected on 1 Ma ...

, although their position cost them their potential part in the three-man delegation. The Metz brothers were elected to the inaugural

. Charles was elected the first President of the Chamber, which he remained until his death on 24 April 1853. He married Justine Vannérus on 26 December 1827 in

Diekirch Diekirch ( lb, Dikrech or (locally) ; from ''Diet-Kirch'', i.e. "people's church") is a commune with town status in north-eastern Luxembourg, capital city of the canton Diekirch and, until its abolition in 2015, the district of Diekirch. The t ...

. Vannérus died in 1849, by which time they had seven children, of whom three (Jules, Irma, and Léonie) survived to adulthood. Metz's only son, Jules, followed his father at the ''Courrier'', and then into the Chamber of Deputies for

Capellen Capellen ( lb, Cap/Capellen ) is a town in the commune of Mamer, in south-western Luxembourg, 12 km west of Luxembourg City. , the town has a population of 1,336. Despite not having a commune named after it, Capellen lends its name to the ...

. Léonie married the

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

-born engineer Edmond Le Gallais.Mersch (1963), p. 328

Footnotes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Metz, Charles Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) Members of the National Congress of Belgium Members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the Constituent Assembly of Luxembourg Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) Luxembourgian journalists Male journalists 19th-century Luxembourgian lawyers Luxembourgian businesspeople Alumni of the Athénée de Luxembourg University of Liège alumni Luxembourgian classical liberals Charles Metz 1799 births 1853 deaths People from Luxembourg City Steel industry of Luxembourg

See also

Footnotes

References