Pierre-Ernest Dams (14 September 1794 – 20 December 1855) was a

Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. The language is standardized and officiall ...

politician, judge, and journalist. He was a major figure in the formative years of Luxembourg as an independent country.Noesen (1949), p. 570

Biography

Born in

Remich Remich ( ) is a commune with town status in south-eastern Luxembourg with a population of 4,101 inhabitants . It is situated in the canton of the same name. Remich lies on the left bank of the river Moselle, which forms part of the border betwee ...

, Dams's father was originally from Dommelen, in the modern

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. During the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was a conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. The ...

, Dams was elected to the

National Congress of Belgium The National Congress (, ) was a temporary legislature, legislative assembly in Belgium, convened in 1830 in the aftermath of the Belgian Revolution. Its purpose was to devise a Constitution of Belgium, national constitution for the new state, w ...

to represent the district of Grevenmacher. There, he voted for the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

, against the Treaty of Twenty-Eight Articles, and for making Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

King of the Belgians The monarchy of Belgium is the Constitutional monarchy, constitutional and Inheritance, hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of the Kingdom of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/quee ...

. In 1831, he was elected to represent the constituency of Grevenmacher in the Chamber of Representatives. He voted against the Treaty of Twenty-Four Articles,Noesen (1949), p. 573 which later became the framework for the Treaty of London. He remained in the Chamber of Representatives until 1837, when he was replaced by Charles Metz. Luxembourg was separated from Belgium by the Treaty of London in 1839, and Dams re-entered political life in the Grand Duchy. He was a member of the Assembly of the States, representing

from 1842 to 1845. He was elected to the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, which drafted Luxembourg's new constitution in 1848. From 1848 to 1853, Dams 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 ...

.Nicolas Als, Robert L. Philippart: ''La Chambre des Députés, Histoire et Lieux de Travail'', Chambre des Députés du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, 1994, S. 512-513

Footnotes

References

* Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) Members of the Constituent Assembly of Luxembourg Members of the National Congress of Belgium 19th-century Luxembourgian judges 1794 births 1855 deaths People from Remich Luxembourgian people of Dutch descent {{Europe-law-bio-stub