Jean Gol (8 February 1942 – 18 September 1995) 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 ...

politician for the

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Walloon party

Parti Réformateur Libéral The Liberal Reformist Party (french: Parti Réformateur Libéral, PRL) was a liberal political party active in Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium. The PRL grew out of the Francophone part of the unitary liberal Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV-P ...

(PRL). He was a minister, on several occasions, in the Belgian government, including service as Deputy Prime Minister.

Early life

His

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents, Stanislas Gol (1908-1976), born in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, and Léa Karny (1911-2001), born in

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

from parents born in present-day

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

(then

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

), were both medical doctors with diplomas from the

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...

. After the Nazi invasion of Belgium in 1940, the Karny family and their stepsons took refuge in England, via France, Algeria, Morocco and Portugal. Stanislas Gol enlisted in the Belgian Army in the United Kingdom, and Léa gave birth to Jean in exile. The family returned to Belgium in 1945, but Léa's parents, Coussel Karny (1883-1944) and Yocheved Chamech (1886-1944), had gone back to Liège in December 1940 and had been deported to

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

in July 1944 and didn't survive deportation. After the Second World War, Gol grew up in Belgium and studied law. He obtained a doctorate in

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the University of Liège.

Political career

Then a self-identified Marxist, he cofounded in 1965 with François Perin the (PWT), which was linked to the Belgian section of the Fourth International. Then, in 1968, they both split to form the Parti wallon, and Gol was elected on a larger regionalist ticket, the ''Rassemblement Wallon'' (Walloon Rally), a few weeks later for the

1968 Belgian general election General elections were held in Belgium on 31 March 1968. The Christian Social Party (Belgium, defunct), Christian Social Party remained the largest party. Voter turnout was 90.0%.Nohlen & Stöver, p291 Elections for the nine Provinces of Belgium ...

on 31 March 1968.

Public offices

In 1974, he was ''Secrétaire d'État à l'Economie régionale wallonne'' in the government Tindemans II. In 1976, he was one of the co-founders of the ''Parti des Réformes et des Libertés de Wallonie'' (PRLW), a merger of the liberal Walloon ''PLP'', and some dissidents of the '' Rassemblement Wallon''. During the governments

Martens A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on t ...

V-VII, of 17 December 1981 up to 9 May 1988, he was: vice-premier, minister of justice and institutional reform. From 6 January 1985 up to 28 November 1985, Jean Gol replaced

Willy De Clercq Willy Clarisse Elvire Hector, Viscount De Clercq (8 July 1927 – 28 October 2011) was a Belgian liberal politician. De Clercq was born in Ghent, son of Frans de Clercq.Etat présent de la noblesse belge 2015, p. 62 After his law and notariat s ...

on the department of foreign trade. In June 1994, he was elected a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, and in addition was elected as a member of the Belgian Senate in 1995.

Leadership within Francophone circles

Over a long period he was noted for his ability to empathize with local Walloon and Liégeois leaders from diverse political backgrounds, including with veteran Walloon Socialist

André Cools André H.P. Cools (1 August 1927 – 18 July 1991) was a Belgian politician and a senior figure within the Walloon Socialist Party (PS) in the Liège region. He was assassinated in 1991 and the subsequent investigation uncovered widespread graft ...

; out of these efforts emerged what became known as the 'Colonster' group, which partly proved to be the catalyst for a strengthening of collective Francophone responses by way of counterweight to the increasing influence of

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

-based parties in Belgium. In May 1992, he became president of the ''PRL'', and in 1993 he was one of the architects of the ''PRL-FDF Federation'', in collaboration with

Antoinette Spaak Antoinette Spaak (27 June 192828 August 2020) was a Belgian politician and leading figure within Francophone and regionalist politics in Brussels. She was born into a noted political family and entered politics as part of the regionalist Democra ...

Contribution to political theory

He re-defined the doctrine of

social liberalism Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

, which he had already worked on in 1976. Jean Gol has voiced his support for

Rattachism Rattachism (french: Rattachisme, , "reattach-ism") or Reunionism (''Réunionisme'') is a minor political ideology which calls for the French-speaking part of Belgium or Wallonia to secede from Belgium and become part of France. Brussels, which ...

Death

He died of a sudden illness in 1995. He was succeeded as leader of the ''PRL'' by his longstanding party colleague

Louis Michel Louis Michel (born 2 September 1947) is a Belgian politician. He served in the government of Belgium as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2004 and was European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid from 2004 to 2009. From 20 ...

Honours

He received the following honorific distinctionsars-moriendi.be
(French) * : Grand Officier of the Order of Leopold * : Grand Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

* : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

* : Grand Cross of

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

* : Grand Cross of the Order of Christ * : Grand Cross of the

Order of the Aztec Eagle The Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle ( es, Orden Mexicana del Águila Azteca) forms part of the Mexican Honours System and is the highest Mexican order awarded to foreigners in the country. History It was created by decree on December 29, 193 ...

* : Umurinzi Medal

References

Sources

Centre Jean Gol

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gol, Jean 1942 births 1995 deaths Walloon people Walloon movement activists Belgian Ministers of State University of Liège alumni Liberal Reformist Party MEPs MEPs for Belgium 1994–1999 Jewish Belgian politicians Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur People from Hammersmith Belgian people of Polish-Jewish descent Belgian people in the United Kingdom during World War II