Henri de Brouckere

Henri Marie Joseph Ghislain de Brouckère (born January 24, 1801 in Bruges , † January 25, 1891 in Brussels ) was a Belgian statesman. He was the younger brother of Charles de Brouckère .

De Brouckère studied law in Liège , became a lawyer in 1820 and later a procurator at Roermond . After the outbreak of the Belgian Revolution in September 1830, he was appointed councilor at the Brussels Court of Appeal , and was also elected a member of the National Congress . He was also with the deputation that offered Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg the Belgian crown. In 1831 he took part in the fight against the Dutch as a volunteer.

From 1833 he was continuously a member of parliament for Brussels. In 1840 he became civil governor of Antwerp , but in 1844 he retired due to illness. However, he soon reappeared on the benches of the opposition in the Chamber and tried in vain to form a ministry with Rogier and Delfosse . He was then one of the fiercest opponents of the Van de Weyer ministry , in 1845 especially the Justice Minister Jules Joseph d'Anethan . After the victory of the Liberal Party in 1847, he was appointed Minister of State without a portfolio. In 1849 he took on several diplomatic missions to Italy . After the overthrow of the Rogier and Frère-Orban cabinet on October 31, 1852, he formed the so-called Ministry of Reconciliation, which endeavored to put an end to internal disputes. But this conciliatory policy found favor only with the most moderate section of the Liberal Party, and when the Oriental War threatened to plunge Belgium into a difficult crisis, all ministers resigned in March 1855. De Brouckère refused the order to form a new cabinet and made room for de Decker. As a member of the Chamber, he attacked the concessions made by his successors to the Catholic reaction party, both persistently and moderately. After going blind, he withdrew completely from political life in 1870.

personal data
SURNAME	Brouckère, Henri de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Brouckère, Henri Marie Joseph Ghislain de (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Belgian statesman
DATE OF BIRTH	January 24, 1801
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bruges
DATE OF DEATH	January 25, 1891
Place of death	Brussels