Frans Van Cauwelaert (10 January 1880 – 17 May 1961), was a Belgian

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

politician and lawyer. Van Cauwelaert was born at

Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek Roosdaal () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Borchtlombeek, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek, Pamel and Strijtem. It is also situated in the Pajottenland. On January 1, 2016 ...

. He was a member of the

Flemish movement The Flemish Movement (, ) is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgium, Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders. Ideologically, it encompasses groups which have sought to promote Flemis ...

, Professor of psychology at the

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its main camp ...

(

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

), mayor of

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) 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 Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

(1921–1932), and co-founder of the daily journal ''

De Standaard (, ) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and Flemish Party, and in opposition to the Sociali ...

''. He fought for using

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

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 ...

, together with the Socialist

Camille Huysmans Jean Joseph Camille Huysmans (born as Camiel Hansen 26 May 1871 – 25 February 1968) was a Belgian people, Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1946 to 1947. Biography He studied German philology at the Universit ...

and the liberal Louis Franck. In 1911 they proposed a bill to the Belgian parliament, which originated from

Lodewijk De Raet Lodewijk De Raet (; Brussels, 17 February 1870 – Forest, 24 November 1914) was a Flemish economist and politician. He played an important role in the Flemish movement. He was co-founder of the ''Vlaamsche volkspartij'' (1892), and was a propon ...

for the usage of Dutch at the University of Ghent instead of French. Frans Van Cauwelaert was a member of the

Belgian Chamber of Representatives The Chamber of Representatives (; ; ) is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered to be the "lower house" of the Federal Parliament. Members and elections Article 62 o ...

from 1910 until his death in 1961. He was appointed

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

in 1931. In the government led by

Charles de Broqueville Count, Comte Charles de Broqueville (; 4 December 1860 – 5 September 1940) was the prime minister of Belgium from 1911 to 1918 and again from 1932 to 1934, serving during the majority of World War I. Before 1914 Charles de Broqueville was b ...

, Van Cauwelaert was minister for Commerce, Middle Class and Foreign Trade (January–June 1934) and Minister of Agriculture and Economical Affairs (June–November 1934). Van Cauwelaert then served in the government led by

Georges Theunis Georges (George) Emile Léonard Theunis (28 February 1873 – 4 January 1966) was the prime minister of Belgium from 1921 to 1925 and again from 1934 to 1935. He was governor of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) in exile in London, from 1941 u ...

as the minister of Agriculture and the Middle class and as minister of Public Works (November 1934 – January 1935), until he resigned due to a financial scandal. From 1939 to 1954, he served as President of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives. During the Second World War Van Cauwelaert mainly lived in New York . He carried out assignments for the Belgian government in exile in South America and in England . In New York, Van Cauwelaert also thought about post-war European unification and corresponded about it with prominent European thinkers such as Robert Schuman and Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi . In his letters, Van Cauwelaert opposed unbridled European unification, with a full place for Germany. In his view, a unified Europe should keep Germany out and focus primarily on the transatlantic allies England and especially the United States . This anti-German attitude is not surprising, since Van Cauwelaert already had to flee from the German aggression against Belgium during the First World War. He then wrote in full wartime with the enemy image of Nazi Germany in mind. Van Cauwelaert judged that only a united Europe could restrain warlike Germany, but that Germany itself should not be part of that political union. He died in Antwerp. His youngest son Jan became a Catholic bishop and died aged 102 as one of the oldest bishops in the Church.

Sources

* Reginald DE SCHRIJVER, ''Frans van Cauwelaerts' visie op de Vlaamse Beweging'', in: ''Onze Alma Mater'', 1972 * Reginald DE SCHRIJVER, ''Frans van Cauwelaert in zijn gedenkschriften over de jaren 1895–1918'', in: ''Dietsche Warande en Belfort'', 1972 * Th. Luykx and M. Platel, ''Politieke geschiedenis van België'', 2 vol., Kluwer, 1985 * M. VAN MECHELEN, ''De jonge Frans van Cauwelaert, 1880–1910'', licentiaatsverhandeling (onuitgegeven), KU Leuven, 1974. * M. VAN MECHELEN, ''Kroniek van Frans van Cauwelaert, 1880–1961'', 1980 * Leo TINDEMANS, ''Atlantisch Europa. Frans van Cauwelaert en de Europese eenmaking'', 1981 * M. VAN MECHELEN, ''Uit de briefwisseling van Frans van Cauwelaert'', 1985–1986 * Lode WILS, ''De Messias van Vlaanderen. Frans van Cauwelaert, 1880–1961'', 1998 * Lode WILS, ''Frans van Cauwelaert'', in: ''Nieuwe encyclopedie van de Vlaamse Beweging'', Tielt, 1998.

External links

*
Frans Van Cauwelaert
i
ODIS – Online Database for Intermediary Structures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cauwelaert, Frans Van 1880 births 1961 deaths Ministers of state of Belgium Belgian newspaper publishers (people) Flemish activists Flemish politicians Belgian activists Politicians of Catholic political parties People from Flemish Brabant Presidents of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Belgian expatriates in the United States Mayors of Antwerp, Belgium Flemish lawyers

See also

Sources

External links