Harold René Charles Marie, comte d'Aspremont Lynden (17 January 1914 - 1 April 1967) was a Belgian cabinet minister, politician of the PSC-CVP and Cavalry Lieutenant-Colonel. He is also notable as Belgium's last Minister of African Affairs (1960-1961), serving as such in Gaston Eyskens' third cabinet.

Life

He was born in 1914 to Count

Charles d'Aspremont Lynden Charles Albert Ferdinand Gobert, comte d'Aspremont Lynden (31 October 1888 - 21 June 1967) was a Belgian landowner, politician and cabinet minister. He was also a member of the right wing of the Catholic Party. He was the father of Harold Charles ...

(a parliamentarian and cabinet minister) and Edith de Favereau (daughter of Paul de Favereau, another cabinet minister). After studying classics at the abbey school at Maredsous from 1926 to 1931, he graduated from the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of ...

as a doctor of law. He completed his military service as a reserve officer in the 13th Line Regiment at

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

(14 October 1936 – 14 October 1937) before returning to Leuven to study social and political economics. VANDERSTRAETEN L.-F., d'Aspremont Lynden, Harold, in ''Nouvelle Biographie Nationale'', t. VIII, Bruxelles, 2005, p. 77-80. His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War Two and the general mobilisation of Belgium in September 1939. After the fall of Belgium he joined the resistance, commanding Sector V in Zone V of the Secret Army. After the war he became a member of the town council and mayor of

Natoye Natoye is a village and a district in the municipality of Hamois, located in the province of Namur, Belgium. During the Middle Ages the area was divided between the County of Namur, which owned the village Natoye, and the Prince-Bishopric of Li� ...

(1947-1967) and senator for the

province of Namur Namur (; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a province of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the West) on the Walloon provinces of Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, Liège and Luxembourg in Belgium, and the French depart ...

(1949-1954 and 1961-1967). In the early 21st century, writer

Ludo De Witte Ludo De Witte (born 1956) is a Belgian writer and political activist internationally known for his book ''The assassination of Lumumba'', on the murder of Patrice Lumumba. In his latest work, ''Als de laatste boom geveld is, eten we ons geld wel op: ...

found documents challenging the idea that Belgian authorities were not involved in the murder of Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba and that Lynden was directly involved. Count d'Aspremont Lynden, who had been tasked with organising Katanga's secession, on 6 October 1960, sent a cable to Katanga saying that policy from now on would be the "definitive elimination of Patrice Lumumba". Lynden had also insisted on 15 January 1961, that an imprisoned Lumumba should be sent to Katanga, which essentially would have been a death sentence. 00.36.57. He died in Natoye in 1967.

Honours

* Commander of the Ordre de Léopold, * Knight of the Ordre de Léopold with palms *

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

1940 with palms * Médaille de la Résistance 1940-1945, * Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1940-1945 with crossed sabres * Commander of the Ordre d'Orange-Nassau of the Netherlands * King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aspremont Lynden, Harold Charles d' 1914 births 1967 deaths Politicians from Brussels Members of the Senate (Belgium) Mayors of places in Belgium Belgian resistance members Lynden family Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Recipients of the Resistance Medal Recipients of the King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom Counts of Belgium