Herman Vanderpoorten (; 25 August 1922 – 3 September 1984) was a Belgian liberal politician. He was a son of the politician

Arthur Vanderpoorten Arthur Pieter Frans Vanderpoorten (17 February 1884 – 3 April 1945) was a Belgian liberal politician and minister. Vanderpoorten was the father of the later minister Herman Vanderpoorten and the grandfather of the later ministers Patrick Dewae ...

, the father of

Marleen Vanderpoorten Marleen Caroline Valère Vanderpoorten (born 21 July 1954) Belgian politician from Flanders and member of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD). She is a daughter of Herman Vanderpoorten and a granddaughter of Arthur Vanderpoorten. She obtai ...

and an uncle of

Patrick Dewael Patrick Yvonne Hugo Dewael, (; born 13 October 1955) is a liberal Belgian politician. A member of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (''Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten'', VLD), he served as Minister-President of Flanders from 1999 to 2003. He is ...

Education

He obtained a law degree at the University of Ghent and got acquainted with, among others, Frans Grootjans and Karel Poma.

Career

After World War II he followed his father's footsteps, who had died in the Nazi concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen. From 1949 up to 1958 he was province council member in Antwerp. In 1961, he became a member of parliament and in 1965, he changed to the senate where he remained until his death. Vanderpoorten led several ministries during his political career. For the PVV-PLP, he was minister of internal affairs in the government Paul Vanden Boeynants- Willy De Clercq (1966–1968), minister of justice in the government Edmond Leburton (1973–1974), in the government

Leo Tindemans Leonard Clemence "Leo" Tindemans (; 16 April 1922 – 26 December 2014) was a Belgian politician. He served as the prime minister of Belgium serving from 25 April 1974 until he resigned as minister on 20 October 1978. He was a member of the Chri ...

-II (1974–1977) and in the government

Wilfried Martens Wilfried Achiel Emma Martens (; 19 April 1936 – 9 October 2013) was a Belgian politician who served as prime minister of Belgium from 1979 to 1981 and from 1981 to 1992. A member of the Flemish Christian People's Party, during his premiership ...

-III (1980) and in addition vice-prime minister and minister for institutional reforms in that same government. In 1979, he took part in the first direct European elections and was member of the European parliament in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

up to 1980. In 1983, he was appointed by the king as Minister of State. He was burgomaster of Lier (1982–1984). He was president of the

Liberaal Vlaams Verbond The Liberaal Vlaams Verbond (E: Liberal Flemish League) was founded in 1913. From its origin it wanted to promote the Flemish cause and drew attention to social matters, within the Belgian Liberal Party. Together with the Willemsfonds and the Lib ...

(1957–1966, 1969–1973).

Honours

*4 November 1971 : Commander in the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

. * 7 December 1978 : Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Leopold II. *5 November 1981 : Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Crown.

References

Sources

* Wouters, Nico, ''Vanderpoorten Herman'', in ''Nieuwe Encyclopedie van de Vlaamse Beweging'', Tielt, Lannoo, 1998, dl. 3, pp. 3159–3160
Herman Vanderpoorten
1922 births 1984 deaths Flemish politicians Belgian Ministers of State Ghent University alumni People from Lier, Belgium Recipients of the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) {{Flanders-politician-stub