The Belgian Minister of the Colonies (french: Ministre des Colonies, nl, Minister van Koloniën) was a Belgian parliamentarian who was responsible for the territories of the colonial empire in Central Africa from 1908 to 1962, comprising the

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

of the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

(1908–60) and the international mandate of

Ruanda-Urundi Ruanda-Urundi (), later Rwanda-Burundi, was a colonial territory, once part of German East Africa, which was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under militar ...

(1916–62). The exact title was changed on several occasions.

Ministerial title

For most of the existence of the post, office holders were known as "Minister of the Colonies" (''Ministre des Colonies'' or ''Minister van Koloniën''). From the accession of in November 1958, however, the ministerial title changed to "Minister of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi" (''Ministre du Congo belge et du Ruanda-Urundi'' or ''Minister van Belgisch-Congo en Ruanda-Urundi''). On 30 June 1960, with the independence of the

, the title changed to "Minister of African Affairs" (''Ministre des affaires africaines'' or ''Minister van afrikaanse zaken'') whose only office holders were August de Schryver and

Harold Charles d'Aspremont Lynden Harold René Charles Marie, comte d'Aspremont Lynden (17 January 1914 - 1 April 1967) was a Belgian cabinet minister, politician of the PSC-CVP and Cavalry Lieutenant-Colonel. He is also notable as Belgium's last Minister of African Affairs (1960 ...

. In addition to official colonial ministers, two individuals served as

ministers without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet ...

with a colonial brief between 1959 and 1960.

Raymond Scheyven Raymond Albert Marie Scheyven (26 November 1911 – 17 January 1987) was a Belgian politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, suppor ...

was "Minister without portfolio, charged with the economic and financial affairs of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi" while Walter Ganshof van der Meersch was "Minister without portfolio, charged with general affairs in Africa".

List of ministers

The following is a list of ministers, cited by historian Guy Vanthemsche in his book ''Belgium and the Congo, 1885-1980'': ;Political parties ;;''Christian Democrat'' , later:
;;''Liberal'' ;;''Socialist''

Notes

References

Bibliography

* *{{cite book, last=Vanhove, first=Julien, title=Histoire du Ministère des Colonies, location=Brussels, publisher=Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences, date=1968, url=http://www.kaowarsom.be/documents/MEMOIRES_VERHANDELINGEN/Sciences_morales_politique/Hum.Sc.(NS)_T.XXXV,3_VANHOVE%20J._Histoire%20du%20minist%C3%A8re%20des%20colonies_1968.pdf

Colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

Belgian colonial empire Belgian Congo Ruanda-Urundi

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 th ...

Ministerial title

List of ministers

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography