Jozef Maria Zacharias (Jef) Valkeniers (

Schepdaal Schepdaal is a village and deelgemeente of Dilbeek in Flanders, Belgium. History The oldest mention dates back to 1260, when the area was called Scepdale. Before 1827 Schepdaal was a part of Zierbeek, named after the stream with the same name ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

- 29 December 1932) is a physician-neuropsychiatrist and a Flemish

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Biography

Jef Valkeniers was born in 1932 as the seventh child in a large brewer family. He grew up in

where his grandfather Emiel Eylenbosch was mayor and brewer.

Neuropsychiatrist

Doctor Valkeniers studied medicine at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. He did his internship at Ellis Hospital and took some additional classes at the

Albany Medical College Albany Medical College (AMC) is a private medical school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1839 by Alden March and James H. Armsby and is one of the oldest medical schools in the nation. The college is part of the Albany Medical Center, whic ...

The State of New York New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

. After six years having worked as a practitioner in Schepdaal he moved with his family to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

in order to specialize in neurology at the

University of Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

in Johannesburg. Four years later, he returned to Belgium and obtained a specialization in

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial p ...

at St. Jans Hospital in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Scienc ...

Politics

Dr Valkeniers was Member of Parliament from 1974 to 2003. As a Dutch-speaking member of parliament, he was also a member of the Flemish Cultural Council (forerunner of the

Flemish Parliament The Flemish Parliament ( Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and as a cultural commun ...

). He was also briefly, in 1988, Minister for the Brussels Region. Finally, he was mayor of

and

Dilbeek Dilbeek () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, Groot-Bijgaarden, Itterbeek (with Sint-Anna-Pede), Schepdaal (with Sint-Gertrudis-Pe ...

. Dr Valkeniers was known during his years as a Member of Parliament as an active member and as a hard worker.

Political career

* 1970 - 1976 : Mayor of

. * 1976 - 1988 : Councillor

. * 1974 - 1985 : Member of the Chamber of Representatives. * 1974 - 1995 : Member of the

Flemish Council The Flemish Parliament ( Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and as a cultural comm ...

* 1985 - 1995 : Member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

* 1988 - 1989 : Secretary of State for the Brussels region * 1995 - 1999 : Member of the Council of Europe * 1995 - 1999 : Member of the

Western European Union The Western European Union (WEU; french: Union de l'Europe occidentale, UEO; german: Westeuropäische Union, WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 ...

* 1995 - 2003 : Member of the Chamber of Representatives. * 1982 - 1988 : Mayor of

* 1992–present : Municipal

Councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

* 2001 - 2002 : President of the

Public Centre for Social Welfare The Public Centre for Social Welfare is a public institution that exists in each of the 581 municipalities of Belgium Belgium comprises 581 municipalities ( nl, gemeenten; french: communes; german: Gemeinden), 300 of them grouped into five pr ...

in Dilbeek Valkeniers is currently dealing with development, he serves on several boards of directors, and he is regularly asked for medical advice (E.g. NPO De Poel.). He is still active in politics as a

councilor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

. and as board member of the liberal party in Belgium (

Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten french: Libéraux et démocrates flamands ouverts , abbreviation = Open Vld , logo = , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = Egbert Lachaert , foundation = 1992 (VLD)2007 (Open Vld) , predecessor = P ...

). He continues to actively work for the fraternization between Dilbeek with some foreign countries. He was a few years ago, the initiator of the cooperation between the HUBrussel and the

Dalton State College Dalton State College (DSC or Dalton State) is a public college in Dalton, Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia. Founded in 1963 as a junior college, the college became a four-year institution in 1998. Dalton State is accredit ...

.DC
"Dalton & HUB"
'' The Daily Citizen (Dalton)'', 19 January 2011. 21 February 2014

Honours

* : Knight of the Order of Crown (1971). * : Sieradres van

Franschhoek Franschhoek (; Afrikaans for "French Corner", Dutch spelling before 1947 ''Fransche Hoek'') is a small town in the Western Cape Province and one of the oldest towns in South Africa. Formerly known as Oliphants hoek (as there were vast groups of ...

(1999). * : Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold (2000). * : Order of Merit of the Republic of Austria (2000). * : Great Medal of Diplomacy from

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

(2003). * : Freeman

Affligem Affligem (; anciently written Afflighem) is a municipality located some west-north-west of Brussels in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, not far from the city of Aalst and the important railway junction of Denderleeuw. Affligem is situ ...

. * : Honorary Mayor of

(2003).

External links

Jef Valkeniers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valkeniers, Jef 1932 births Living people Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten politicians Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) KU Leuven alumni Albany Medical College alumni University of the Witwatersrand alumni People from Dilbeek