Maurice Auguste Count Lippens (21 August 1875 – 12 July 1956) was a noble
Belgian businessman, politician, and colonial civil servant and lawyer.
Born into an influential
Liberal family, Lippens practiced as a
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
before entering local politics in his native province of
East Flanders. His business interests included a number of colonial companies. After serving as governor of East Flanders (1919–21), Lippens was recruited to serve as
Governor-General of the Belgian Congo
This is a list of European colonial administrators responsible for the territory of the Congo Free State and Belgian Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
International Association of the Congo
Prior to the creation of the Congo F ...
(1921–23) in which capacity he launched a major administrative reform. After resigning from the post following disagreement with the colonial administration in Belgium, Lippens returned to his business career and re-entered Belgian politics. After serving in a number of ministerial position, his political career culminated in an appointment as
President of the Senate
President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies.
The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...
(1934–36). He returned to his business career after resigning from politics in 1936, retiring from business also in 1952. He died in 1956.
Career
Maurice Lippens was born in
Ghent,
Belgium in 1875 to a prominent local family. His father,
Hippolyte Lippens
Hippolyte Lippens (16 October 1847 – 31 December 1906) was a lawyer, manager of sugar factories and a Belgian liberal politician. He was a son of Auguste Lippens, burgomaster of Moerbeke-Waas, and he married in 1873, with Louise de Kerckho ...
, had been
Mayor of Ghent (1882–95) and a politician in the
Liberal Party, serving as a member of the
Chamber of Representatives and
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 el ...
(1882-1906). His mother came from the aristocratic
de Kerchove de Denterghem family. He gained a doctorate in
Law from the
University of Ghent and practiced as a lawyer in Ghent.
In 1904, Rutten became a
provincial councillor for
East Flanders and, in 1906, was elected mayor of the municipality of
Moerbeke-Waas
Moerbeke () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian province of East Flanders. It is sometimes unofficially called Moerbeke-Waas () to distinguish between this place and in Geraardsbergen. The municipality comprises ...
. In 1907, Maurice joined the administrative board of the
Compagnie du Congo pour le Commerce et l'Industrie (CCCI) replacing his deceased father. During the
German occupation of Belgium in
World War I, Lippens was involved in resistance and was held as a prisoner from 1915–18. In 1919, he was appointed
governor of East Flanders where he reorganised the education and health provisions of the province.
Based on his reputation as governor of East Flanders, Lippens was recruited in 1921 by
Louis Franck, the
Minister of the Colonies and a Liberal politician, to serve as Governor-General in the
Belgian Congo. In this role, Lippens began a major series of administrative reforms, decentralising power from the colonial administration in
Boma to the Congo's provinces. The colonial budget and education systems were also reformed.
Lippens' programme of reforms led to tension between him and Franck, with Lippens demanding much greater autonomy for the Governor-General from the Ministry of the Colonies in Belgium. He reacted angrily to a plan by the Ministry to launch the construction of a railway between
Buta and
Bambili and, in January 1923, offered his resignation.
Retiring from the colonial administration, Lippens remained active in colonial businesses. He became administrator of the
Banque d'Outremer and, returning to his position in the CCCI, later became the board chairman of the CCCI. Among his business interests were Congolese companies producing
cane sugar and the ''Sucrière congolaise'' company named its first settlement Moerbeke (now
Kwilu Ngongo
Kwilu Ngongo is a town in western Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located in the Kongo Central province. It is fairly near the Angola border.
Transport
It is served by a station on the national railway system.
See also
* Railway ...
) after Lippens' hometown. In 1931, he became a member of the board of the
Société Générale de Belgique, the country's largest
holdings company.
Lippens re-entered Belgian politics as a Liberal senator in 1925. In 1927, he became Minister for Railways, the Postal Service and Telegraph and, in 1929, Minister of Transport. In 1934, he was appointed to the honorary position of
Minister of State. He became
President of the Senate
President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies.
The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...
in November the same year. He did not stand as a candidate in the
1936 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 1936.
Asia
* 1936 Ceylonese State Council election
Europe
* 1936 Belgian general election
* 1936 Bielsko municipal election
* 1936 Danish Landsting election
* 1936 Finnish parliamentary election
* 193 ...
. Between 1935 and 1939, Lippens was involved in the charitable organisations that founded the
Royal Library of Belgium
The Royal Library of Belgium (french: Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history t ...
in
Brussels and the
Academia Belgica
The Academia Belgica is an academic organization. The goal of the Academy is to promote the cultural, scientific and artistic cooperation between Italy and Belgium.
The organization was founded in 1939 when the Belgian princess Marie-José marri ...
in
Rome,
Italy.
Lippens was given the title of Count in 1934. He ran a charity for children in
Spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...
in the
German occupation of Belgium during World War II
The German occupation of Belgium (french: link=no, Occupation allemande, nl, Duitse bezetting) during World War II began on 28 May 1940, when the Belgian army surrendered to German forces, and lasted until Belgium's liberation by the Western ...
. He retired from his business interests in 1952 and died in 1956.
Honours
* Minister of State.
* Knight Grand Cross in the
Order of the Crown.
References
Bibliography
*
Further reading
*
*
External links
Congo (Kinshasa)*
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lippens, Maurice Eugene Auguste
1875 births
1956 deaths
Politicians from Ghent
Belgian civil servants
Belgian Ministers of State
Counts of Belgium
Businesspeople from Ghent
Governors-General of the Belgian Congo
Presidents of the Senate (Belgium)
Ghent University alumni
20th-century Belgian lawyers
20th-century Belgian businesspeople
Governors of East Flanders
Mayors of places in Belgium
Government ministers of Belgium
Members of the Senate (Belgium)
Liberal Party (Belgium) politicians