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(Redirected from Hubert Joseph Walther Frère-Orban) Belgian politician (1812–1896)

Walthère Frère-Orban


Prime Minister of Belgium
In office 19 June 1878 – 16 June 1884
Monarch	Leopold II
Preceded by	Jules Malou
Succeeded by	Jules Malou
In office 3 January 1868 – 2 July 1870
Monarch	Leopold II
Preceded by	Charles Rogier
Succeeded by	Jules d'Anethan

Personal details
Born	(1812-04-24)24 April 1812 Liège, France (now Belgium)
Died	2 January 1896(1896-01-02) (aged 83) Brussels, Belgium
Political party	Liberal Party

Hubert Joseph Walthère Frère-Orban (French pronunciation: [ybɛʁ ʒozɛf waltɛʁ fʁɛʁ ɔʁbɑ̃]; 24 April 1812 – 2 January 1896) was a Belgian liberal statesman.

Early life

He was born at Liège, received his education at home and in Paris, and began the practice of law in his native town. He identified himself with the Liberal party, and was conspicuous in the controversy with the Catholic clergy.

Career

In 1846, he wrote the program, which was accepted as the charter for a liberal political party. In 1847 he was elected to the Belgian Chamber and appointed Minister of Public Works. and from 1848 to 1852 he held the portfolio of Finance. He reduced postage, abolished the newspaper tax and was a strong advocate of free trade.

His work, La mainmorte et la charité (1854–57), directed against the Conservatives, produced a great effect on the position of parties in Belgium. As a result, in 1857, the Liberals returned to power and Frère-Orban became once more minister of Finance in the cabinet of Charles Rogier, whom he succeeded to become the prime minister in 1868. In 1870 the Catholics regained their supremacy and forced him to retire, but from 1878 to 1884 he was again at the head of the cabinet, most notably breaking off diplomatic relations with the Papal States in 1880 (which were restored in 1884).

As finance minister, Frère-Orban was instrumental in the creation of Belgium's three major public financial institutions, namely the National Bank of Belgium in 1850, the Caisse Générale d'Épargne et de Retraite in 1850-1865, and the Crédit Communal de Belgique in 1860.

Standing as a liberal again in the October 1894 elections, he categorically refused the support of Catholics against progressives and socialists. He was not re-elected, defeated by the socialist Célestin Demblon.

Weakened by illness, he died on 2 January 1896. Frère-Orban lies in its birthplace, Liège, in the cemetery of Robermont.

Political philosophy

Frère-Orban's liberalism consisted in the assertion of the authority of the state over the church and the defense of the system of secular public instruction against the clergy. He was at all times opposed to the "undue extension" of suffrage. Among other works he wrote La question monétaire.

Honours

National

Belgium:
- Minister of State, by Royal Decree.
- 1881: Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold (civil division).

Foreign

Austria-Hungary: 1881: Knight Grand Cross in the Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen.
Kingdom of France: Knight Grand Cross in the Legion of Honour.
Kingdom of Prussia: 6 May 1852: Knight 1st Class in the Order of the Red Eagle.
Austrian Empire: Knight Grand Cross in the Imperial Order of Leopold of Austria
Kingdom of Spain: Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Charles III.
Kingdom of Portugal: Knight Grand Cross in the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Kingdom of Hanover: Knight Grand Cross in the Royal Guelphic Order.
Kingdom of Italy: Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.
Kingdom of the Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau.

References

Charles A. Conant (1910), The National Bank of Belgium (PDF), Washington DC: U.S. Senate - National Monetary Commission
René Brion; Jean-Louis Moreau. "Inventaire des archives de la Caisse générale d'épargne et de retraite (CGER) 1850–2000" (PDF). BNP Paribas Fortis. BNP Paribas Historical Center & Association pour la Valorisation des Archives d’Entreprises asbl.
Jacques Moden (1996), "La restructuration du Credit communal", Courrier Hebdomadaire du CRISP (1539), Brussels: Centre de recherche et d'information socio-politiques
"FRÈRE". ars-moriendi.be.
Handelsblad (Het) 11-06-1881
Handelsblad (Het) 07-05-1881
^ Almanach royal officiel: 1875
"Rother Adler-orden", Königlich Preussische Ordensliste (in German), vol. 1, Berlin, 1886, p. 29 – via hathitrust.org{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Sources

Liberal Archive
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Political offices
Preceded byCharles Rogier	Prime Minister of Belgium 1868–1870	Succeeded byJules d'Anethan
Preceded byJules Malou	Prime Minister of Belgium 1878–1884	Succeeded byJules Malou

v t e Prime ministers of Belgium
de Gerlache Lebeau de Muelenaere Goblet d'Alviella de Theux de Meylandt Lebeau Nothomb Van de Weyer de Theux de Meylandt Rogier de Brouckère de Decker Rogier Frère-Orban d'Anethan Malou Frère-Orban Malou Beernaert de Burlet de Smet de Naeyer Vandenpeereboom de Smet de Naeyer de Trooz Schollaert de Broqueville Cooreman Delacroix Carton de Wiart Theunis Van de Vyvere Poullet Jaspar Renkin de Broqueville Theunis van Zeeland Janson Spaak Pierlot Van Acker Spaak Van Acker Huysmans Spaak G. Eyskens Duvieusart Pholien Van Houtte Van Acker G. Eyskens Lefèvre Harmel Vanden Boeynants G. Eyskens Leburton Tindemans Vanden Boeynants Martens M. Eyskens Martens Dehaene Verhofstadt Leterme Van Rompuy Leterme Di Rupo Michel Wilmès De Croo		Flag of Belgium

v t e Foreign ministers of Belgium
1800s	Van de Weyer (1831) Lebeau (1831) de Muelenaere (1831) Goblet (1831–34) de Muelenaere (1834–36) de Theux (1836–40) Lebeau (1840–41) de Briey (1841–43) de Muelenaere (1843–45) Dechamps (1845–47) d'Hoffschmidt (1847–52) de Brouckère (1852–55) Vilain XIIII (1855–57) de Vrière (1857–61) Rogier (1861–67) Vander Stichelen (1868–70) d'Anethan (1870–71) d'Aspremont Lynden (1871–78) Frère-Orban (1878–84) de Moreau (1884) de Riquet de Caraman (1884–92) de Merode (1892–95) de Burlet (1895–96) de Favereau (1896–1907)
1900s	Davignon (1907–1916) Beyens (1916–17) de Broqueville (1917–18) Hymans (1918–20) Jaspar (1920–24) Hymans (1924–25) Vandervelde (1925–27) Hymans (1927–34) Jaspar (1934) Hymans (1934–35) van Zeeland (1935–36) Spaak (1939–49) van Zeeland (1949–54) Spaak (1954–57) Larock (1957–58) Wigny (1958–61) Spaak (1961–66) Harmel (1966–73) Van Elslande (1973–77) Simonet (1977–80) C-F. Nothomb (1980–81) Tindemans (1981–89) Eyskens (1989–92) Claes (1992–94) Vandenbroucke (1994–95) Derycke (1995–99) Michel (1999–2004)
2000s	De Gucht (2004–09) Leterme (2009) Vanackere (2009–11) Reynders (2011–)

v t e Finance ministers of Belgium
list	Finance Ministers
1831–1899	Charles de Brouckère (1831) Jacques Coghen (1831–1832) Auguste Duvivier (1831–1834) Edouard d'Huart (1834–1839) Léandre Desmaisières (1839–1840) Edouard Mercier (1840–1841) Camille de Briey (1841) Jean Baptiste Smits (1841–1843) Edouard Mercier (1843–1845) Jules Malou (1845–1847) Laurent Veydt (1847–1848) Walthère Frère-Orban (1848–1852) Charles Liedts (1852–1855) Edouard Mercier (1855–1857) Walthère Frère-Orban (1857–1870) Pierre Tack (1870) Victor Jacobs (1870–1871) Jules Malou (1871–1878) Charles Graux (1878–1884) Jules Malou (1884) Auguste Beernaert (1884–1894) Paul de Smet de Naeyer (1894–1899) Julien Liebaert (1899)
1900–1999	Paul de Smet de Naeyer (1899–1907) Julien Liebaert (1907–1911) Michel Levie (1911–1914) Aloys Van de Vyvere (1914–1918) Léon Delacroix (1918–1920) Georges Theunis (1920–1925) Aloys Van de Vyvere (1925) Albert-Edouard Janssen (1925–1926) Maurice Houtart (1926–1932) Jules Renkin (1932) Henri Jaspar (1932–1934) Gustave Sap (1934) Camille Gutt (1934–1935) Max-Léo Gérard (1935–1936) Henri De Man (1936–1938) Eugène Soudan (1938) Max-Léo Gérard (1938) Albert-Edouard Janssen (1938–1939) Camille Gutt (1939–1945) Gaston Eyskens (1945) Franz de Voghel (1945–1946) Jean Vauthier (1946–1947) Gaston Eyskens (1947–1949) Henri Liebaert (1949–1950) Jean Van Houtte (1950–1952) Albert-Edouard Janssen (1952–1954) Henri Liebaert (1954–1958) Jean Van Houtte (1958–1961) André Dequae (1961–1965) Gaston Eyskens (1965–1966) Alfred Scokaert (1965–1966) Robert Henrion (1966–1968) Jean-Charles Snoy et d'Oppuers (1968–1971) André Vlerick (1972) Willy De Clercq (1973–1974) Willy De Clercq (1974–1977) Gaston Geens (1977–1980) Robert Henrion (1980) Paul Hatry (1980) Mark Eyskens (1980–1981) Robert Vandeputte (1981) Willy De Clercq (1981–1985) Frans Grootjans (1985) Etienne Knoops (1985) Louis Waltniel (1985) Mark Eyskens (1985–1988) Philippe Maystadt (1988–1998) Herman Van Rompuy (1988) Wivina Demeester (1988–1991) Jean-Jacques Viseur (1998–1999)
2000–present	Alain Zenner (2000–2003) Hervé Jamar (2003–2007) Bernard Clerfayt (2008–2011) Steven Vanackere (2011–2013) Koen Geens (2013–2014) Johan Van Overtveldt (2014–2018) Alexander De Croo (2018–2020) Vincent Van Peteghem (2020–present)

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