Georges (George) Emile Léonard Theunis (28 February 1873 – 4 January 1966) was the

prime minister of Belgium german: Premierminister von Belgien , insignia = State Coat of Arms of Belgium.svg , insigniasize = 100px , insigniacaption = Coat of arms , insigniaalt = , flag = Government ...

from 16 December 1921 to 13 May 1925 and again from 20 November 1934 to 25 March 1935. He was governor of the

National Bank of Belgium The National Bank of Belgium (NBB; nl, Nationale Bank van België, french: Banque nationale de Belgique, german: Belgische Nationalbank) has been the central bank of Belgium since 1850. The National Bank of Belgium was established with 100% pr ...

(NBB) from 1941 until 1944. He was the

minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 1920 to 1925. Theunis received a military training and was also trained as an engineer. Georges Theunis started his career in the

Empain group The Empain group was a loose grouping of companies founded by Édouard Empain (1852–1929) of Belgium and controlled by the Empain family. From 1881 until merging with Schneider & Cie in 1969, the companies engaged in a broad range of activities ...

, where he was an administrator and later the president of the board of ACEC. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he headed the ''Belgian Wartime Provisions Commission'' in London. After the war he was involved in the

Paris Peace Conference, 1919 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and served as the Belgian delegate to the Reparations Commission. From 1926 until 1927 he chaired the International Economic Conference in Geneva. In 1926 Theunis joined the newly formed council of regency of the

National Bank In banking, the term national bank carries several meanings: * a bank owned by the state * an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally) * in the United States, an ordinary p ...

, together with

Emile Francqui Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...

, and remained a member until the war, except for two breaks during his ministerial duties. As regents of the NBB, both Theunis and Francqui represented the power which the large private banks had gained since 1926. 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 opposin ...

he served as a special ambassador to the United States of America. In 1941, he was appointed governor of the

by the Pierlot government in exile at London instead of

Albert Goffin Albert Goffin (died 1958) was a Belgian banker, civil servant and governor of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) from 16 July until 27 November 1941. He started his career at the NBB in 1907. In 1922, he became administrator delegate at the Ban ...

who had been appointed by Secretary General

Charles Plisnier Charles Plisnier (13 December 1896, Ghlin – 17 July 1952, Brussels) was a Belgian writer from Wallonia. Biography He was a Communist in his youth and briefly belonged to the Trotskyist movement in the late 1920s. He disavowed communism, ...

. On his return to Belgium after the war, he resigned as governor of the NBB.

Honours

* :

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

, by Royal Decree. * : Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold * : Grand Cross of the

Order of the White Lion The Order of the White Lion ( cs, Řád Bílého lva) is the highest order of the Czech Republic. It continues a Czechoslovak order of the same name created in 1922 as an award for foreigners (Czechoslovakia had no civilian decoration for its ...

* : knight Grand Cross

Legion of Honour 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, ...

* :

Order of Saint Michael and Saint George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

* Grand Cross in the

Order of Saint Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great ( la, Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; it, Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of ...

, 1932.

References

Sources

Georges Theunis on the site of the Belgian Federal Government''A tribute to America, the U.S.A. at war as seen through Belgian eyes ''
A speech by Theunis

External links

* , - , - 1873 births 1966 deaths People from Saint-Nicolas, Liège Catholic Party (Belgium) politicians Finance ministers of Belgium Prime Ministers of Belgium Belgian Ministers of State Governors of the National Bank of Belgium Belgian civil servants Belgian Ministers of Defence Grand Crosses of the Order of the White Lion {{Belgium-politician-stub