Louis de Potter

Louis de Potter

de Potter in jail

Louis Joseph Antoine de Potter (born April 26, 1786 in Bruges ; † July 22, 1859 there ) was a Dutch - Belgian newspaper editor, revolutionary and politician who played a key role in the creation of Belgium.

Life before the revolution

De Potter began his political career as editor of the opposition newspaper Courrier des Pays-Bas during the time of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands . He wrote violent polemics against the Catholic clergy, the aristocracy and the government of King Wilhelm I. In particular, his writings against the government, guided by private hatred of the Minister van Maanen , led to a court case in 1828 in which he was sentenced to 18 months in prison and a sentence of 1000 guilders was fined. Also from prison he wrote inciting writings to the people and worked for a union of the liberal party with the catholic party in order to jointly oppose the northern Netherlands. Immediately after his release, on April 30, 1830, he was sentenced to eight years' exile for revolutionary writings. After the outbreak of the Belgian Revolution, he hurried back to Brussels, immediately became a member of the provisional government, commissioned the draft of the new Basic Law for Belgium and spoke openly at the national congress that he opened on November 10th for the republican form of government and confederation according to Swiss Example. Since the National Congress spoke out in favor of a Unitarian state and a parliamentary monarchy , it withdrew from direct political events on November 13, 1830.

Life after the revolution

In 1831, however, as a staunch Republican, he had to flee because of the repression that the opponents of the Belgian monarchy were now feeling, and went to Paris. There he again worked as an editor for various newspapers. Then, between 1833 and 1837, de Potter was embroiled in a bitter legal battle with his sister over the common legacy. At the end of 1838 he was able to return to Brussels, but was disappointed with developments in his home country. In 1839 the largely disaffected Louis de Potter wrote that there was less freedom in Belgium than in the formerly unified Netherlands . The republican and liberal-minded people could not come to terms with the prevailing conditions in Belgium and even seriously proposed reunification with the north, which, however, should no longer happen, since in 1839 William I recognized the independence of Belgium after some territorial concessions ( Zeeuws-Vlaanderen , Limburg and Luxemburg ) had been made. In the following time, de Potter changed from a liberal-minded person to a politician with socialist ideas, as his writings show. Towards the end of his life he visited his hometown Bruges and when he fell ill in the summer of 1859 while staying in Blankenberge , he was brought back to Bruges, where he died unexpectedly on July 22, 1859.

Fonts (selection)

Works

• L'Union des catholiques et des libéraux dans les Pays-Bas , (2nd edition Brussels 1831)
• Histoire du christianisme (Paris 1836, 8 vols.)
• Résuméde l'histoire du christlanisme (1856, 2 vols.)
• La revolution belge de 1828 à 1839, souvenirs personnels (Brussels 1838-39, 2 vols.)

literature

• Juste: Louis de Potter (Brussels 1874)
• Frans Baekelandt, Louis de Potter , in: Kontaktblad Gidsenbond Brugge en West-Vlaanderen, October 2004 - idem in: Historische opstellen, Brugge, 2011.
• Francis BALACE, Nicolas de POTTER, René Dalemans: Louis de Potter. Révolutionnaire Belge en 1830 .: Révolutionnaire Belge en 1830. COULEUR LIVRES 2013; ( digitized )