Léo Collard

Leo Collard, 1968

Léo Jules Émile Collard (born July 11, 1902 in Aulnois , Hainaut , Belgium , † January 27, 1981 in Mons , Hainaut) was a Belgian politician of the Belgian Socialist Party (BSP) . During his tenure as Minister of Education, there was a second school dispute in Belgium.

Life

Collard began his political career in 1932 when he was elected not only a member of the Mons parish council but also a member of the Chamber of Deputies . There he represented the interests of the BSP until 1971.

In 1946 he was Minister for Public Education in the government of Prime Minister Achille Van Acker for the first time from March to August . He remained active in local politics and was mayor of Mons from 1953 to 1974 .

In April 1954, Collard was reappointed Minister of Public Education by Prime Minister Van Acker in his fourth government and remained in that post until the end of Van Acker's term on June 26, 1958.

As such, he tried in 1955 to cut the subsidies for free middle, technical and normal teaching introduced by the previous Catholic - Christian Democratic government of Jean Van Houtte , as well as the salaries of teachers . This led to the protest actions for free teaching led by the Catholic Church and the Parti Social Chrétien-Christelijke Volkspartij (PSC-CVP) to the climax of the second educational dispute in Belgium after 1884. In addition to the construction of numerous state schools, the one he ordered was particularly beneficial The requirement that teachers have to prove that they are in possession of a diploma contributed to the exacerbation of the school dispute, as this led to many unqualified Catholic priests being asked to leave the school service.

The conflict ended only after the end of the Van Acker government's term of office with the signing of the school pact of November 1958, in which both free and state education was placed on a legal basis.

After leaving the cabinet, he succeeded Max Buset as chairman of the Belgian Socialist Party in 1959 and held this office until he was replaced by Edmond Leburton in 1971.

For his political services, Collard was honored on April 5, 1963 with the honorary title of Minister of State . The then Federal President Theodor Heuss awarded him the Grand Cross of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1958 . In addition, Mount Collard in Antarctica is named after him.

literature

• Paul van Molle: Het Belgisch parlement 1894–1972 - Antwerp [et al.]: Standaard Wetenschappelijke Uitgeverij, 1972