Edmond Leburton

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Edmond Jules Isidore Leburton (born April 18, 1915 in Lantremange , Liège Province , † June 18, 1997 in Waremme ) was a Belgian socialist politician and from January 1973 to April 1974 Prime Minister of Belgium.

Training and World War II

Leburton graduated from 1933 to 1937 with a degree in political and social sciences at the University of Liège. He then worked as a civil servant in the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs. After the Wehrmacht invaded Belgium in 1940, he was captured and after his escape he joined the resistance movement and for some time was in command of a unit of the Belgian " Resistance ".

After the end of the Second World War he resumed his work in the Ministry of Social Affairs and in this capacity was one of the main authors of the Belgian social security system.

Political career

Member of Parliament and Speaker of Parliament

From 1946 to 1981 he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies; there he represented the Socialist Party (PSB) for the arrondissement of Huy - Waremme .

On June 7, 1977 he was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies. He resigned from this office on November 14, 1978.

Minister and party leader

From April 23, 1954 to June 26, 1958, he was Minister for Public Health and Families in the cabinet of his Flemish party friend Achille Van Acker . From April 25, 1961 to July 28, 1965 he was Minister for Social Welfare in Théo Lefèvre's cabinet . In these offices he presented laws to control the pharmaceutical industry , to promote medical research and to remunerate doctors.

He was then until March 19, 1966 in the government of Pierre Harmel Deputy Prime Minister and Minister responsible for the coordination of infrastructure policy.

From 1969 to 1971 he was Minister of Economic Affairs in Gaston Eyskens' cabinet . In this role, he drafted a law to encourage economic expansion , but was also exposed to the Campine miners' strike. After his election as chairman of the PSB in 1971, he resigned as Minister of Economics. At the same time he was given the honorary title of " Minister of State ".

Prime Minister 1973 to 1974

On January 26, 1973 he was elected Prime Minister to succeed Eyskens. His government, which was trying to complete the reform of the constitution and thus the formation of the regions, had to face the strikes of dockers and students against reform of the army, the demonstrations against abortion , the oil crisis and finally the "Ibramco affair" submit their resignation on April 25, 1974. Leburton was the last French-speaking and socialist Prime Minister of Belgium until Elio Di Rupo was appointed in December 2011 .

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personal data
SURNAME Leburton, Edmond
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Leburton, Edmond Jules Isidore
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian politician and prime minister
DATE OF BIRTH April 18, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Lantremange
DATE OF DEATH June 18, 1997
Place of death Waremme