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biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1869–1939)
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| biography:
| Belgian politician and statesman, born in Brussels, Belgium. First a journalist, then an accountant, he became burgomaster of Brussels in 1909. When the German troops approached Brussels in August 1914, he boldly drove to meet them and opened negotiations. He defended the rights of the Belgian population against the invaders, and was imprisoned. He refused an offer of freedom which carried the condition that he went to Switzerland and desisted from anti-German agitation. In November 1918 he returned to Belgium, was elected to the House of Representatives, and became a minister of state. |
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