Jacques Simonet (; 21 December 1963 – 14 June 2007) was a Belgian

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 ...

and a former

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 ...

Life

He is the son of

Henri Simonet Henri François Simonet (10 May 1931 – 15 February 1996) was a Belgian politician. Born in Brussels, Henri Simonet studied law and economics at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), ULB and then went to Columbia University as CRB Graduate ...

, former

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 ...

minister and for many years 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 ...

. His mother Marie-Louise Angenet taught at the

Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Dutch language, Dutch, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated VUB) is a Dutch- and English-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has four campuses: Brussels Humanities, Science and Engine ...

. He was born in

Watermael-Boitsfort Watermael-Boitsfort (French language, French, ) or Watermaal-Bosvoorde (Dutch language, Dutch, ; ), often simply called Boitsfort in French or Bosvoorde in Dutch, is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipal ...

, Belgium. He studied law at the

Université libre de Bruxelles The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...

. He married Véronica Labe, a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

, in 1988; they had two children. He entered politics as a student activist in the Fédération des étudiants libéraux, a right-wing party and later became a member of the

Reformist Movement The Reformist Movement (, , MR) is a liberal French-speaking political party in Belgium, which includes social-liberal and conservative-liberal factions. Stemming from the Belgian Liberal Party founded in 1846, the MR is one of the oldest par ...

(MR). Simonet served as mayor of

from 2000 until his death and as Minister-President of the

Brussels-Capital Region Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital ...

from 15 July 1999 to 18 October 2000. He served as state secretary for European Affairs of Belgium from 12 July 2003 until 12 February 2004 when he became Minister-President of Brussels for the second time on the resignation of

Daniel Ducarme Daniel Ducarme (; 8 March 1954, Liège – 28 August 2010) was a Belgian politician and former Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region. Background and political affiliation Starting his political career in the Liberal Reformist Party ...

following revelations of Ducarme's unpaid taxes in the newspaper '' L'Avenir ''. He led the MR list in the elections of June 2004, losing to the Socialists led by former Minister-President

Charles Picqué Charles Picqué (; born 1 November 1948) is a Belgian politician. He is a former Minister-President of the Brussels Capital-Region. After obtaining a master's degree in economics at the Institut d'administration et de gestion at the Louvain S ...

and gave up the minister-presidency a month later. Simonet was hospitalised on 9 September 2006 as the result of a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain ...

. In the elections which followed on 8 October 2006 he was re-elected as mayor of Anderlecht with 8500 preference votes. On 14 June 2007 he suddenly died of a heart attack aged only 43.

References

Sources

Website of Jacques Simonet

Biographical note at the MR website

Mayor Jacques Simonet passed away
, - 1963 births 2007 deaths Université libre de Bruxelles alumni Minister-presidents of the Brussels-Capital Region People from Watermael-Boitsfort {{Belgium-mayor-stub