François Altwies (11 November 1869 – 5 July 1936) was a

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

ian politician. He sat in the Chamber of Deputies, of which he served as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

from 1917 until 1925. Altwies was a lawyer by profession, and was appointed

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

in Junglinster in 1897, before holding that office in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Gr ...

from 1922.Mersch (1967), p. 373 He was first elected to the Chamber in 1911, representing the canton of

Grevenmacher Grevenmacher (; ) is a commune with town status in eastern Luxembourg, near the border with Germany. It gives its name to and is the capital of the canton of Grevenmacher, and, until its abolition in 2015, the district of Grevenmacher. The town ...

. A conservative, Altwies joined the Party of the Right (PD) upon its formation in 1914. He was reelected in 1915 and 1918. An eloquent and prominent member, Altwies became, along with Emile Prüm,

Joseph Bech Joseph Bech (17 February 1887 – 8 March 1975)Thewes, Guy"Les gouvernements du Grand-Duché depuis 1848." Service information et presse. Luxembourg: Imprimerie Centrale, 2011. was a Luxembourgish politician and lawyer. He was the 15th Prime Mi ...

, and Auguste Thorn, one of the PD's main weapons on the floor of the Chamber. He became Vice-President of the Chamber on 28 June 1917 when

Léon Kauffman Léon Kauffman (16 August 1869 – 25 March 1952)Thewes (2011), p. 75 was a Luxembourgish politician. He was the 12th Prime Minister of Luxembourg, serving for one year, from 18 June 1917 until 28 September 1918. After studying law, in 1893 ...

, a fellow PD member, became

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

.Mersch (1967), p. 375 Only four months later, he was elevated to President, in which capacity he remained until 1925, when the Party of the Right lost their overall majority in the Chamber (the only spell in the era of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

in which any party has held it). Altwies played a key role in putting down the attempted communist revolution led by Émile Servais in January 1919, calling upon French soldiers to intervene in the crisis. When proportional representation was introduced, in

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the ...

, he moved to representing ''

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

'', for which he was returned again in

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Itali ...

and

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

. He was appointed a Councillor of State in 1933. He died on 5 July 1936 in Luxembourg City.Mersch (1967), p. 377 He married Elise Wurth (1879–1966) on 21 May 1901. They lived together on the ''maison de maître'' of

's prestigious Boulevard Royal.Mersch (1967), p. 376

Decorations

Altwies was awarded the following national decorations: * Belgium:

Order of the Crown of Belgium The Order of the Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne, nl, Kroonorde) is a national order of the Kingdom of Belgium. The Order is one of Belgium's highest honors. History The Order was established on October 15, 1897 by King Leopold II in his ...

(Grand Cross) * France:

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(Commander) * Italy: Order of the Crown of Italy (Grand Cross) * Luxembourg **

Order of Adolphe of Nassau The Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolph of Nassau (french: Ordre de Mérite civil et militaire d’Adolphe de Nassau) is an order of merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for meritorious service to the Grand Duke, the Grand-Ducal House ...

(Grand Officer) **

Order of the Oak Crown The Order of the Oak Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne de chêne, german: Eichenlaubkronenorden, lb, Eechelaafkrounenuerden) is an order of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. History The Order of the Oak Crown was established in 1841 by Gran ...

(Grand Officer)

Footnotes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Altwies, Francois Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg from Grevenmacher Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) Members of the Council of State of Luxembourg Party of the Right (Luxembourg) politicians Luxembourgian notaries Luxembourgian people of World War I 1869 births 1936 deaths People from Remich Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur