Henri François Simonet (10 May 1931 – 15 February 1996) was a Belgian politician. Born in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Henri Simonet studied law and economics at the ULB and then went to

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

as CRB Graduate Fellow. Simonet began his political life as a member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(PS). He served as mayor of

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

between 1966 and 1984, succeeding the long-serving Joseph Bracops. Like Bracops, Simonet dominated the local political scene to such an extent that the ambitious

Philippe Moureaux Philippe Moureaux (12 April 1939 – 15 December 2018) was a Belgian politician, senator, mayor of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and professor of economic history at the Université libre de Bruxelles. He held the honorary title of Minister of State and ...

moved to neighbouring

Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ), often simply called Molenbeek, is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the western p ...

to pursue a career there. In 1985 Simonet left the Socialists to join the Liberal Reformist Party (PRL) where he espoused increasingly Atlanticist positions. As mayor of Anderlecht, Simonet presided over considerable changes to what had been a largely industrial and working-class community, attracting new development in the form of the Erasmus Hospital, a teaching hospital tied to the ULB on whose administrative council Simonet served.

Christian D'Hoogh A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...

succeeded Simonet as mayor of Anderlecht. Simonet served as vice-chairman of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

from 1973 to 1977 and as Minister for Regional Economic Development in 1978 and 1979. On the national plan, Simonet served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

and before as Minister of Economics Affairs. His son Jacques Simonet, who made his political career in the liberal Liberal Reformist Party, served twice as

Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region The minister-president of the Brussels-Capital Region (; ) leads the government of the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) The post is appointed for five years a ...

(1999-2000; 2004) and as mayor of Anderlecht from 2000 until his death in 2007. They are buried together in the cemetery of

References

, - , - , - , - , - 1931 births 1996 deaths Belgian European commissioners Foreign ministers of Belgium Politicians from Brussels Columbia University alumni {{EU-org-bio-stub