Karel Poma

Karel Emiel Hubert Baron Poma (born March 14, 1920 in Antwerp , † December 27, 2014 in Wilrijk , Antwerp province) was a Belgian politician of the Partij voor Vrijheid en Vooruitgang (PVV).

Life

The son of the former mayor of the Antwerp district Wilrijk studied at the University of Ghent , where he obtained his doctorate in natural sciences after the Second World War . He then worked as a chemist and bacteriologist at the Antwerp waterworks, where he was head of the laboratory until 1971 .

In 1965 he began his political career by being elected as a member of the Senate , of which he was a representative of the PVV until 1971. He then became a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1971 and was a member of it until 1981.

In April 1974 he was appointed State Secretary for the Environment by Prime Minister Leo Tindemans in his cabinet and was a member of this until a government reshuffle in 1977. For the first time, a member of the enlarged government was exclusively responsible for environmental issues.

At the same time he was a member of the municipal councils of Wilrijk and Antwerp between 1976 and 1988 and a representative of the Chamber of Deputies in the Flemish Council from 1977 to 1981. After leaving the Chamber of Deputies, he became a senator again in 1981 and held this office until 1985.

When the Flanders region got its own regional government in 1981 , he was appointed Vice- Prime Minister by its Prime Minister Gaston Geens and at the same time took over the post of Minister of Culture until 1985. As such, he was also responsible for fine arts , libraries, radio and television, sports, youth, cultural heritage, science and research, and international cultural relations. He was succeeded as Flemish Minister of Culture by Patrick Dewael .

For his services he was raised to the nobility in 2005 by King Albert II as a baron . In addition, on June 21, 2009, he was awarded the Prijs van het Vrijzinnig Humanisme, which is awarded every two years , and on December 7, 2009, he was awarded the honorary title of Minister of State together with Melchior Wathelot and André Flahaut .

Poma was also a Freemason and a member of the Masonic lodges Les Elèves de Thémis Anvers , Het Truweel Antwerpen en de Geuzen and Trigonum Antwerp .

Publications

• Wat men moet weten over het Belgisch liberalisme , 1954, co-author Frans Janssens
• Knoeien met ons Leefmilieu , 1973
• Energie en Democratie , 1976
• Actie Vrijmetselaren, een politieke benadering van de moderne vrijmetselarij , 1996
• Een visie op de Grote Architect van het Heelal , 1999
• De Verlichting. Pijler van onze beschaving , 2009

Web links

• Liberaalarchief