Paul-Henry Gendebien (9 July 1939 – 3 May 2024) was a Belgian economist and politician of the

Walloon Rally The Walloon Rally (french: Rassemblement wallon; RW) is a regionalist political party in Belgium, active in Wallonia since 1968. The party favoured federalism and since 1985 independence. Founded on 7 March 1968, the party contested the Belgi ...

(RW) and the Rassemblement Wallonie France (RWF). He was descended from

Alexandre Gendebien Alexandre Joseph Célestin Gendebien (Mons, 4 May 1789 – Brussels, 6 December 1869) was a lawyer in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and later Belgium, where he also became minister of Justice. He played an important role during the Belgia ...

, who was Belgium's first Minister of Justice.

Biography

Born in Hastière on 9 July 1939, he was the son of World War II pilot Marc Gendebien and Guillemette Carton de Wiart, who herself was the daughter of former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Henry Carton de Wiart :''This article uses a Belgian surname: the surname is Carton de Wiart, not Wiart.'' Henry Victor Marie Ghislain, Count Carton de Wiart (31 January 1869 – 6 May 1951) was the prime minister of Belgium from 20 November 1920 to 6 May 1921. He w ...

. He earned a

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...

in 1962 and a licentiate in economic sciences in 1964 from

Saint-Louis University, Brussels Saint-Louis University, Brussels or UCLouvain Saint-Louis Brussels (officially, in French Université Saint-Louis – Bruxelles) is a public university in Brussels, belonging to the French Community of Belgium and specialized in social and huma ...

and subsequently studied at the Catholic University of Louvain. After his studies, he became a researcher at the and was an assistant professor at the University of Kinshasa from 1965 to 1967. From 1968 to 1971, he directed the economic research office at the

Province of Hainaut Hainaut (, also , , ; nl, Henegouwen ; wa, Hinnot; pcd, Hénau), historically also known as Heynowes in English, is a province of Wallonia and Belgium. To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders (clock ...

. In response to the Leuven Affair, Gendebien left the Christian Social Party and joined the Walloon Rally (RW). In

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, he was elected to the Chamber of Representatives and, in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, he was elected as a

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

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 ...

. However, he left the party in 1981 to join the ''Alliance démocratique wallonne'' and eventually settled with the Rassemblement Wallonie France, that he founded and became president in 1999. Gendebien favored a split of Belgium similar to that of the

dissolution of Czechoslovakia The dissolution of Czechoslovakia ( cs, Rozdělení Československa, sk, Rozdelenie Česko-Slovenska) took effect on December 31, 1992, and was the self-determined split of the federal republic of Czechoslovakia into the independent countries o ...

and an integration of

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 ...

and

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 ...

into France. He also denounced the "Flemishization" of the Belgian state by the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and the National Railway Company. Paul-Henry Gendebien died 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 ...

on 3 May 2024, at the age of 84.

Books

*''Congo, 1963'' (1964) *''L’Intervention des Nations unies au Congo'' (1968) *''L’Environnement… un problème politique pour la Wallonie, pour l’Europe, pour le Monde'' (1972) *''Une certaine idée de la Wallonie'' (1987) *''Splendeurs de la Liberté'' (1999) *''Le Choix de la France'' (2002) *''La Belgique : dernier quart-d'heure ?'' (2006) *''Wallons et Bruxellois, ensemble avec la France !'' (2008) *''La raison et le cœur. Oui à la France'' (2010) *''Demain la Wallonie avec la France. Vers la réunification française'' (2013) *''Histoire d'une famille. Les Gendebien au temps des révolutions et des guerres européenne'' (2017) *''1914-1918 Deux villages Wallons dans l'enfer de la grande guerre'' (2018) *''Mon séjour dans la fosse aux lions de la politique belge'' (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gendebien, Paul-Henry 1939 births 2024 deaths Belgian economists Walloon Rally politicians MEPs for Belgium 1979–1984 Members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni People from Namur (province)