Léon van der Elst
Baron Léon Georges Joseph Marie Philomène van der Elst (born January 6, 1856 in Brussels , † May 23, 1933 ibid) was a Belgian diplomat .
Life
Léon van der Elst, son of François Zénon Julien Emile van der Elst and his wife Barbe Henriette Marie t'Kint de Roodenbeke, joined the Foreign Ministry in 1884 and was first head of the secretariat in 1885 and head of the foreign ministers' cabinet in 1889 . In 1894 he was raised to the nobility as a knight . In 1905 he became Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry and held this office until 1917. At the same time, he was diplomatic advisor to King Albert I between 1909 and 1918 and was raised to the hereditary nobility as a baron in 1910 .
Most recently, van der Elst was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Spain from 1917 to 1918 . For his many years of service, he was also a Grand Officer of the Order of the Leopold and the Order of the Crown . He also received the Civil Cross First Class, the government medal from King Leopold II and the commemorative medal for the 100th anniversary of the founding of Belgium.
His marriage to Marie Anne Joséphine van Vessem in 1892 resulted in four children, including the diplomat Joseph van der Elst .
Web link
- Léon van der Elst in ars-moriendi.be
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Van der Elst, Léon |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Van der Elst, Léon Georges Joseph Marie Philomène (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Belgian diplomat |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 6, 1856 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brussels |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 23, 1933 |
| Place of death | Brussels |