Charles-Léon Metz (1 November 1842 – 25 June 1928) was a

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

ish politician and industrialist. He was a member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

for forty-three years (1875–1918), and served as Mayor of Esch-sur-Alzette from 1906 to 1909. The son of

Auguste Metz Jean-Antoine Auguste Metz (8 August 1812 – 22 June 1854) was a Luxembourgish entrepreneur, politician, and lawyer. He was a major player in the growing steel industry in Luxembourg during the nineteenth century, as well as a leading liberal me ...

and Petronille Laeis, he was a member of the prominent

Metz family The Metz family is a family in Luxembourg that was prominent in politics and industry in the mid- and late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The head of the household was Jean Metz, who had nine children. This second generation inclu ...

, and he entered the family business of metallurgy. He was first elected to the communal council of

Esch-sur-Alzette Esch-sur-Alzette (, ; ; or ''Esch an der Alzig'') is a city in Luxembourg and the country's List of communes of Luxembourg by population, second-most populous commune, with a population of 36,625 inhabitants, . It lies in the south-west of the ...

in 1873, and served for four years before becoming an '' échevin'' on 16 January 1877. He was also elected to the national

as a liberal on 14 October 1875, representing

. Although a liberal, he was a traditionalist, a practising

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and had close ties to the religious establishment in Esch. Metz was named Mayor of Esch on 22 October 1906, which was renewed on 28 December 1908. During his tenure as mayor, the most important decision was the commune's purchase of the Forest of Esch, and its replacement with new steel mills, in the district of Belval. Although Metz won re-election in the 1909 communal elections, he decided to resign on 28 November 1909, having served three years as mayor. Metz lost in his bid to be reelected to the Chamber of Deputies in the 1918 election, and withdrew from public life. He died on 25 June 1928.

Decorations

Metz was awarded a number of decorations:Mersch (1963), p. 409–10 * Commander,

Order of the Oak Crown The Order of the Oak Crown (, , ) is an order (honour), order of the Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. History The Order of the Oak Crown was established in 1841 by William II of the Netherlands, Grand Duke William II, who was also King o ...

(Luxembourg) * Commander,

Order of Adolphe of Nassau The Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolph of Nassau () is an order of merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for meritorious service to the Grand Duke, the Grand-Ducal House and Luxembourg. It was founded in 1858 as a chivalric order of th ...

(Luxembourg) * Commander, Order of the Crown (Belgium) * Commander, Order of the Crown (Italy) * Knight (1st class),

Order of the White Falcon Order of the White Falcon () is a grand-ducal order of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, founded by Duke Ernest Augustus on 2 August 1732, and renewed in 1815 by Charles Augustus. Description In the early 20th century it had four classes a ...

(

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach () was a German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was raised to a grand duchy in 1815 by resolutio ...

)

Footnotes

References

* Mayors of Esch-sur-Alzette Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) Councillors in Esch-sur-Alzette Independent politicians in Luxembourg Luxembourgian businesspeople Luxembourgian Roman Catholics Leon Metz 1842 births 1928 deaths Manternach Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) 19th-century Luxembourgian politicians {{Luxembourg-mayor-stub