Eugène Edouard César Gaëtan Soudan (4 December 1880 – 30 November 1960) was a lawyer, jurist and politician.

Biography

He was born into a liberal bourgeois family in the city of

Ronse Ronse (; ) is a Belgian city and a municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality only encompasses the city of Ronse proper. History Early settlements to 14th century The hills around Ronse show clues of human a ...

. He did his primary education in his hometown, he then makes his secondary studies at the Royal Grammar School in

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

and that of

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

. At the

University of Ghent Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

, then only French-speaking, he obtained a university degree in Philosophy and then continued to obtain a Doctor of Law with great distinction on 9 July 1904. He began a career as a lawyer in Brussels with in the office of Charles Dejongh, one of the most eminent jurists of the country at the time. In 1917, will be the chief of staff for the cabinet of

Emile Vandervelde Emile Vandervelde (25 January 1866 – 27 December 1938) was a Belgium, Belgian socialist politician. Nicknamed "the boss" (''le patron''), Vandervelde was a leading figure in the Belgian Labour Party (POB–BWP) and in international socialism. C ...

. During the first world war, Soudan served as delegate of the interdepartmental commission of supplies. He was

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

in 1938. During the second world war, Soudan was arrested in 1943 and detained in several prisons. From January 1944 until the Liberation, he was a prisoner in

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Nazi Germany, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (pre-1938 ...

References

1880 births 1960 deaths 20th-century Belgian politicians People from Ronse Ghent University alumni Belgian Labour Party politicians Buchenwald concentration camp survivors Belgian people of World War II Ministers of justice of Belgium Ministers of state of Belgium Foreign ministers of Belgium Ministers of finance of Belgium {{Flanders-politician-stub