Isidore Albert Maria Smets (6 June 1901 – 31 May 1976) was a
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
trade union leader and politician.
Born in
Mechelen, Smets began working for the
Union of Factory Workers The Union of Factory Workers (french: Union Centrale des Travailleurs de Fabrique, nl, Centrale der Fabriekwerkers) was a general union in Belgium.
Various local unions of factory workers formed in Belgium around the turn of the 20th-century. In ...
when he was just sixteen years old, as secretary of its branch in his home town. In 1921, the union became part of the new
General Union
A general union is a trade union (called ''labor union'' in American English) which represents workers from all industries and companies, rather than just one organisation or a particular sector, as in a craft union or industrial union. A gene ...
, and Smets was appointed as the new union's secretary in
Lier. He also worked for the
Union of Food and Hotel Workers
The Food, Hospitality and Services Union ( nl, Centrale van de Voeding, Horeca en Diensten, HORVAL; french: Centrale Alimentation, Horeca & Services) is a trade union representing workers in the food and service sector in Belgium.
The union was fo ...
, and for the local co-operative. He joined the
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...
, and served on Mechelen council from 1927 to 1932, then Lier council from 1933 to 1938.
Smets was appointed as deputy general secretary of his union in 1937, and general secretary in 1938. He fled to the United Kingdom during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, organising the Belgian trade unionist in exile in the country, and also broadcasting on behalf of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. After the war, he returned to Belgium, winning election as president of the General Union in 1949.
From 1954 to 1961, and again from 1965 to 1968, Smets served as a co-opted member of the
. Through this, he served in the
, and was a vice-president in 1958. From 1960, he was the president of the
. He retired in 1966, and died ten years later.