Ferdinand Elbers (24 December 1862 in

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 ...

– 8 August 1943 in

Molenbeek ( French, ) or ( Dutch, ), often simply called Molenbeek, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, from which it is separated ...

) was a

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

mechanic,

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ist, and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He served as the president of the Brussels federation of the Belgian Workers Party in 1901. In 1904, he was elected to the

Belgian Senate The Senate ( ; ; ) is one of the two chambers of the Bicameralism, bicameral Belgian Federal Parliament, Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium), Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be ...

, but his election was ruled void and he was denied his seat. The next year however, he was elected as provincial senator for Brabant, and held that position until 1912. In 1912, he was elected to the

Belgian Parliament The Federal Parliament (; ; ) is the bicameral parliament of Belgium. It consists of the Chamber of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). It sits in the Palace of the Nation in the centre of the nation's capital, Brussels. ...

, where he served until 1929. In 1896 he was elected to the council of Molenbeek, and was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

from 1900 to 1912; he returned to the Molenbeek council in 1926. His great-grand-nephew is Jef Elbers.

Sources

History of the Belgian Syndicalist Movement (1918-1940)

1862 births 1943 deaths Politicians from Ghent {{Flanders-politician-stub