François Xavier Brasseur (19 October 1865 – 4 July 1912) was a Luxembourgish politician and jurist. Brasseur was educated at the Athénée de Luxembourg, graduating in 1884. Afterwards, he studied law, graduating on 17 June 1890, and began practising in 1894. He worked for his uncle Alexis's

steelworks A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

as legal counsel. On 5 January 1897, Brasseur stood as the liberal candidate against the socialist Michel Welter in partial elections in

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 ...

. After 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 ...

was founded in 1902, Brasseur joined them, and stood in the elections of 7 April 1902 in Esch as a 'democratic' candidate, being elected to the Chamber (along with Welter and three other Socialist candidates). Brasseur consistently introduced legislation expanding Esch's prestige in the country, including the creation of a new district tribunal in Esch (along with those in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

and

Diekirch Diekirch (; ; or (locally) ; from ''Diet-Kirch'', i.e. "people's church") is a Communes of Luxembourg, commune with List of towns in Luxembourg, town status in north-eastern Luxembourg, in the Diekirch (canton), canton of Diekirch and, until its ...

) and the creation of an industrial school in the town; both were defeated. More successful was his effort to create a

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

way in Esch, which was passed, but only after his death. In 1908, the Socialists and the Liberal League formed their famous 'Left Bloc' (), and Brasseur was returned as a

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

again, with seven other socialists. His political involvement wasn't limited to Esch. Brasseur, as one of the most prominent socialists in the country, was appointed to run for, and was elected to, the communal council of

, along with Jean-Pierre Probst and Luc Housse, in 1904. Despite his commitment to Esch's development and his attack on the succession of Marie-Adélaïde to the

grand duchy A grand duchy is a country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess. Prior to the early 1800s, the only Grand duchy in Europe was located in what is now Italy: Tuscany ( ...

, Brasseur's main political preoccupation was with the introduction of

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

and the promotion of education for girls. In this, he was influenced by his wife, Jeanne de Saint-Hubert (sister of Aline Mayrisch de Saint-Hubert), whom he had married on 25 May 1893 and divorced on 17 December 1910. Xavier was a member of the prominent Brasseur family. His father,

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

, was a famous industrialist. His uncle, Dominique, was a

(1866 – 99) and

mayor of Luxembourg City The Mayor of Luxembourg City (; ) is the mayor of Luxembourg's Capital city, capital and List of towns in Luxembourg, largest city, Luxembourg City. The officeholder, like other mayors in Luxembourg, is appointed by the Monarchy of Luxembourg, Gran ...

(1891 – 94). Dominique's son, and Xavier's cousin,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

, was a Liberal deputy and member of Luxembourg City's council at the same time as Xavier (and until 1925). In 1914, Robert married Jeanne, whom the late Xavier had divorced four years previously.

References

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brasseur, Xavier Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg from Esch-sur-Alzette Councillors in Luxembourg City Xavier Brasseur 1865 births 1912 deaths Politicians from Luxembourg City Alumni of the Athénée de Luxembourg Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party politicians