Oscar Plisnier

Oscar Plisnier (born February 22, 1885 in Obourg , † April 6, 1952 in Knokke ) was a Belgian administrative officer, most recently in the position of general secretary in the Ministry of Finance. During the German occupation of Belgium in World War II , as a member of the Committee of Secretaries General , which he became chairman of in 1941, he was in charge of the financial sector of the public administration, but was bound by the instructions of the German military administration.

Life

Plisnier studied at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), where he graduated with a doctorate in political and administrative sciences and a degree in economics. As early as 1902 he entered the civil service as an administrative assistant for the tax authority of the Ministry of Finance. Then Plisnier was auditor of the Court of Auditors, inspector general (1925) and director general of budget management and expenditure control (1934), until he was promoted to general secretary of the Ministry of Finance in 1937. His reputation in the field of public finance management and budgeting helped him to teach at the ULB.

After the German invasion of Belgium in 1940, the Belgian Government set up the Committee of Secretaries General to guarantee the continued existence of public administration after the Government had left Belgium. Plisnier was now the contact for the German military administration in financial matters. In 1941, after Alexandre Delmer was dismissed, he was appointed the new chairman of the committee. Plisnier essentially followed a pragmatic course and tried with all his might to maintain the powers of the general secretaries and the originally assured autonomy. This went so far that he contradicted an article in the Brussels newspaper , which pleaded for the Belgian economy to be based on the German model. When the Belgian government returned from London following the liberation, Plisnier was deposed as general secretary. However, he was honored farewell from the service in 1950 while maintaining his pension rights.

Web links

Biography at the Belgian State Archives (French)

Individual evidence

^ Rolf Falter: De Bruxelles Zeitung (1940–1944) in: Historica Lovaniensia 137, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Departement geschiedenis), Leuven 1982, p. 63.

personal data
SURNAME	Plisnier, Oscar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Belgian administrative officer, most recently in the position of Secretary General in the Ministry of Finance
DATE OF BIRTH	February 22, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH	Obourg
DATE OF DEATH	April 6, 1952
Place of death	Knokke

[1] Rolf Falter: De Bruxelles Zeitung (1940–1944) in: Historica Lovaniensia 137, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Departement geschiedenis), Leuven 1982, p. 63.