Henri Joseph Georges Carton de Tournai (1878–1969) was a Belgian lawyer and Catholic Party politician who was a member of the Belgian Senate and Chamber of Representatives, and a government minister.

Life

Carton de Tournai was born in Tournai on 19 February 1878. He studied at 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 ...

and became a lawyer in his home town. He was elected to the Senate for the Tournai-Ath constituency in 1919, serving until 1925, and was then elected to the Chamber of Representatives from the same constituency, serving until 1936, when he was again elected to the Senate.Michel Géoris,
Carton de Tournai, Henri
, '' Nouvelle Biographie Nationale'', vol. 10 (Brussels, 2010), pp. 74-75. He was appointed Minister of the Colonies on 11 March 1924, late in the government of

Georges Theunis Georges (George) Emile Léonard Theunis (28 February 1873 – 4 January 1966) was the prime minister of Belgium 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 Belgi ...

, and retained the portfolio under the short-lived premierships of

Aloys Van de Vyvere Aloys (Alois) Jean Maria Joseph, Viscount Van de Vyvere (8 June 1871 – 22 October 1961) was a Belgian Catholic Party politician. Biography Born in Tielt, Van de Vyvere studied law and philosophy and worked as a lawyer in Ghent, where he se ...

and Prosper Poullet. He resigned when Poullet's government fell on 20 May 1926. He went on to serve as

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from February to October 1932, in the government of Jules Renkin. During the

Second World War 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 worked discreetly to provide relief to those suffering under the

German Occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

. His final term in parliament ended in February 1946, as he did not stand for re-election 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% ...

. In 1956 he was awarded the title of baron. He died in Brussels on 18 January 1969.

Life

References

Further reading