Julius Hoste Jr. (1884–1954) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

businessman and liberal politician. He went to highschool at the ''Koninklijk Atheneum'' (E: Royal Atheneum) of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. In 1902 he started at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), where he obtained a law degree in 1907. Already as a student he had become interested in the

Flemish movement The Flemish Movement ( nl, Vlaamse Beweging) is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders. Ideologically, it encompasses groups which have sought to promo ...

, like his father Julius Hoste Sr. While he was a student, he was a member of ''Geen Taal, Geen Vrijheid'', and together with

Nico Gunzburg Nico Gunzburg (2 September 1882, Riga, Russian Empire – 5 March 1984, Antwerp, Belgium) was a Belgian lawyer, criminologist and centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. Because life expectancies worldw ...

and

Frans Van Cauwelaert Frans Van Cauwelaert (10 January 1880 – 17 May 1961), was a Belgian Roman Catholic politician and lawyer. Van Cauwelaert was born at Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek. He was a member of the Flemish movement, Professor of psychology at the Katholieke U ...

, he founded the ''Algemeen Vlaams Studentenbond''.

Career

After Hoste graduated, he worked shortly for the bar, but soon started working for the newspaper company founded by his father, which published newspapers such as

Het Laatste Nieuws ''Het Laatste Nieuws'' (; in English ''The Latest News'') is a Dutch-language newspaper based in Antwerp, Belgium. It was founded by Julius Hoste Sr. on 7 June 1888. It is now part of DPG Media, and is the most popular newspaper in Flanders and ...

, ''De Vlaamsche Gazet van Brussel'' and ''De Zweep'' (a Flemish weekly). In 1909, he cofounded the ''Liberale Volksbond'' of the district Brussels. This organization was founded in reaction to the ''Franskiljonism'' of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

of Brussels. In 1913, he also participated in the foundation 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 ...

. 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 lived in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He worked for the newspaper ''De Vlaamsche Stem'' until it began German-sponsored

activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...

. In reaction he and

founded the newspaper ''Vrij België''. Together they also founded the ''Vlaams-Belgisch Verbond'', and worked on the ''minimumprogramma'' (E: minimum-program) to establish linguistic uniformity in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

(Dutch) and

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

(French), Dutch-language usage in Flanders for education, administration, justice and army. After the war this remained the program for the ''Vlaams-Belgisch Verbond''. After the war Hoste took over the management of the publishing company, and ''Het Laatste Nieuws'' became the most popular newspaper in Flanders. The success of the newspaper stood in strong contrast to the bad results for the liberals in Brussels in the elections of 1920. Julius Hoste would become president of the ''Algemene Belgische persbond'' (1935–1936), and secretary of the ''Verbond der Brusselse dagbladbestuurders'' (1939). In 1935 he entered the political scene, and campaigned against the

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

parties Rex and VNV, and in 1936 became ''Minister of Education'' in the second government of

Paul Van Zeeland Paul Guillaume, Viscount van Zeeland (11 November 1893 – 22 September 1973) was a Belgian lawyer, economist, Catholic politician, and statesman born in Soignies. Van Zeeland was a professor of law and later director of the Institute of Econ ...

. While he was in office, he founded the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten and a Dutch and French ''cultural council'' (1938). 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 stayed in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, where he became the under-secretary for education in the Belgian government in exile. After the war, he helped reestablish the ''Liberale Volksbond'' and the

. In 1947, he was one of the main authors of the

Oxford Manifesto {{Liberalism sidebar The Oxford Manifesto, drawn up in April 1947 by representatives from 19 liberal political parties at Wadham College in Oxford, led by Salvador de Madariaga, is a document that describes the basic political principles of the ...

on liberalism. In 1949 he was chosen as liberal

senator 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 el ...

for Brussels, which he remained until his death in 1954. As a politician he paid attention to the problems of the Belgian communities (Flanders and Wallonia) and world peace during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

Sources

Julius Hoste Jr.
* Harry Van Velthoven, ''Zwerver in niemandsland, Julius Hoste en zijn Londens oorlogsdagboek'', Willemfonds Brussel 1987 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoste, Julius Jr. 1884 births 1954 deaths Belgian politicians Belgian newspaper publishers (people) Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni Flemish activists Members of the Belgian government in exile