Lode Claes (born June 1913 - died February 1997) was a Belgian economist author, journalist and politician who was active within the

Flemish nationalist 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 ...

movement.

Biography

Claes studied political and social sciences and law at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of ...

and began training as a lawyer in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

during the late 1930s. Upon returning to Belgium in 1940, he was drafted into the Belgian army. Following the

German invasion of Belgium (1940) The invasion of Belgium or Belgian campaign (10–28 May 1940), often referred to within Belgium as the 18 Days' Campaign (french: Campagne des 18 jours, nl, Achttiendaagse Veldtocht), formed part of the greater Battle of France, an offensive ...

, Claes was appointed as a civil servant at the National Agriculture and Food Corporation but went into hiding in 1944. After the Second World War, he was accused of being a collaborator due to his work in the civil service during the Nazi occupation and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but was released early.

Politics

In 1965, Claes became a member of the

Volksunie People's Union ( nl, Volksunie, VU) was a Flemish nationalist political party in Belgium, formed in 1954 as a successor to the Christian Flemish People's Union. The Volksunie defined itself as a big tent and catch-all party that combined suppor ...

and was elected as a councilor in

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 1968, he was elected to the Senate as a directly elected senator for the Brussels arrondissement. In the Senate, he was mainly concerned with financial and economic issues, in which he had an outspoken neoliberal vision In 1975 he ran for the leadership of the Volksunie but lost to

Hugo Schiltz Hugo Schiltz (27 October 1927 – 5 August 2006) was a Belgian lawyer and politician. He was Belgian MP from 1965 to 1988 and senator from 1992 to 1995. He was also twice minister, from 1981 to 1985 in the first Flemish Government and between 1 ...

. Due to dissatisfaction with the

Egmont Pact The Egmont pact ( nl, Egmontpact; french: Pacte d'Egmont; german: Egmont-Pakt) of 1977 is an agreement on the reform of Belgium into a federal state and on the relations between the linguistic communities in the country. The pact was not carried o ...

and disagreements with Schiltz, he left the Volksunie in 1977 and founded his own party: the Flemish People's Party (VVP). His split with the Volksunie coincided with Karel Dillen who had founded the Flemish National Party. The VVP took a more national liberal discourse whereas Dillen's party was seen as radical conservative.Mudde, 2003, p. 85. Despite the differences, the two formed a cartel (electoral alliance) under the banner ''Vlaams Blok.'' Both parties subsequently merged to form

Vlaams Blok ''Vlaams Blok'' ( en, Flemish Block, or VB) was the name of a Belgian far-right and secessionist political party with an anti-immigration platform.Erk, 2005, pp. 493-502. Its ideologies embraced Flemish nationalism, calling for the independence ...

as a political party. Claes took part in the

1979 European Parliament election The 1979 European Parliament election was a series of parliamentary elections held across all 9 (at the time) European Community member states. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the Europea ...

under the Flemish People's Party ticket but was not elected and left politics soon after.

Later career

After politics, Claes initially worked in journalism as a columnist and a director for the Belgian financial-economic magazine ''Trends.'' In the early 1990s, he founded a think-tank ''One October Group.'' The objective of the think-tank was to create a new party of conservative Christian Democrats, Flemish nationalists and classical liberals. A number of well-known Flemish political and academic figures such as Edwin Truyens,

Paul Belien Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, Raoul Bauer,

Boudewijn Bouckaert Boudewijn Bouckaert (born 21 July 1947) is a Belgian law professor, a member of the Flemish Movement, and a libertarian conservative thinker and politician. He was a Member of the Flemish Parliament for the liberal party List Dedecker. He is al ...

, Chris Van Sumeren,

Jaak Gabriels Jaak is a version of the names Jacob and James in the Estonian language. People named Jaak include: *Jaak Aab (born 1960), Estonian politician *Jaak Aaviksoo (born 1954), Estonian politician and physicists *Jaak Allik (born 1946), Estonian poli ...

Gerolf Annemans Gerolf Emma Jozef Annemans (born 8 November 1958) is a Belgian lawyer, journalist and politician of the Flemish nationalist party Vlaams Belang (VB) and formerly of its predecessor, the Vlaams Blok. He has been a member of the European Parliame ...

and

Guy Verhofstadt Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt (; ; born 11 April 1953) is a Belgian politician who was the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe from 2009 to 2019, and has been a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium ...

became members of the think-tank and it had ties to the

Party for Freedom and Progress The Party for Freedom and Progress ( nl, Partij voor Vrijheid en Vooruitgang; french: Parti de la Liberté et du Progrès; german: Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt, PVV-PLP) was a liberal political party in Belgium which existed from 1961 unti ...

and later set the groundwork for forming the

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

party, although Claes did not take part in founding the VLD and did not become a member.Manu RUYS, ''Lode Claes'', in: Nieuwe encyclopedie van de Vlaamse Beweging, Tielt, 1998. Claes died in 1997.

References

{{authority control People's Union (Belgium) politicians Members of the Senate (Belgium) Belgian economists KU Leuven alumni Flemish activists