Alfred Aloïs De Taeye (1905–1958) was a Belgian

Christian Democrat Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

trade unionist and politician.

Career

De Taeye was active in the

Confederation of Christian Trade Unions The Confederation of Christian Trade Unions ( nl, Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond, or ACV; french: Confédération des syndicats chrétiens, CSC) is the largest of Belgium's three trade union federations. History The federation was founded in ...

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...

and sat on the city council from 1938 to 1942. From 1948 to 1950 he was mayor of Kortrijk. In the

1946 Belgian general election General elections were held in Belgium on 17 February 1946. The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 92 of the 202 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 51 of the 101 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 90.3% ...

he was elected to the Chamber of Representatives for the Constituency of Kortrijk, remaining in parliament until his death on 11 April 1958. From 1950 to 1954 he served as minister of health and families in the governments headed by

Jean Duvieusart Jean Pierre Duvieusart (10 April 1900 – 10 October 1977) was a Belgian Catholic politician of the PSC-CVP who served as prime minister of Belgium from June to August in 1950. Political career Jean Duvieusart became a member of the Chambe ...

Joseph Pholien Joseph Clovis Louis Marie Emmanuel Pholien (28 December 1884 – 4 January 1968) was a Belgian Catholic politician and member of the PSC-CVP. He was born in Liège, and volunteered to serve with the Belgian army during World War I, being commi ...

, and

Jean Van Houtte Jean (Jan) Marie Joseph, Baron Van Houtte (17 March 1907 – 23 May 1991) was a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1952 to 1954. Born in Ghent, van Houtte held a doctorate in law and lectured at Ghent Univer ...

. As a parliamentarian he played a key role in post-war housing policy, drafting a law that funded 50,000 social homes and subsidised the building of small family homes (1948), and another that encouraged

slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

(1953). The first of these laws has been seen as causing a proliferation of

ribbon development Ribbon development refers to the building of houses along the routes of communications radiating from a human settlement. The resulting linear settlements are clearly visible on land use maps and aerial photographs, giving cities and the countrysid ...

in postwar Belgium, while the second encouraged insufficiently planned urban redevelopment.

Publications

* "De actuele aspecten van het huisvestingsprobleem in Belgie", ''Economisch en Sociaal Tijdschrift'', 12 (1955), pp. 279–294.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Taeye, Alfred 1905 births 1958 deaths Belgian trade unionists Members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Christian Social Party (Belgium, defunct) politicians Government ministers of Belgium