Robert Brasseur (19 November 1870 – 15 February 1934) was a

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

ish politician, jurist, and journalist. Born in Luxembourg, Brasseur was educated at the

Athénée de Luxembourg The Athénée de Luxembourg ( en, Luxembourg Athenaeum), is a high school situated in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. Throughout the school's history of more than 400 years, the name was changed repeatedly. It's nowadays commonly called ...

, before studying law at

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

and in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(at the École de Droit, the Sorbonne and the Collège de France). While in Paris, he became a

bibliophile Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books. Profile The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...

, starting a library to which he would continue to contribute over the rest of his life.Mersch (1959), p. 103 He began working in journalism, reporting on the

Dreyfus affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

. Brasseur qualified on 16 December 1895, and was called to the bar on 3 January 1896.Mersch (1959), p. 105 He followed his father into politics, and was first elected to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

in 1899, representing

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Lu ...

.Mersch (1959), p. 108 In 1904, he was a founding member of the Liberal League. In the same year, he was elected to the communal council of

. He would sit in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Luxembourg City council until 1925. He would afterwards sit as a member of the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

. Brasseur was the first President of the

Luxembourgian Olympic and Sporting Committee The Luxembourg Olympic and Sporting Committee (french: Comité Olympique et Sportif Luxembourgeois, nl, Luxemburgs Olympisch en Sportcomité, german: Luxemburgisches Olympisches und Sportkomitee, lb, Lëtzebuerger Olympesche a Sporting Comité) ...

(COSL), from 1912 until 1922. Brasseur was a member of the prominent

Brasseur family The Brasseur family is a family in Luxembourg that was prominent in politics and industry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The head of the household was Alexis Brasseur, who had thirteen children by two wives. This second gene ...

. His father,

Dominique "Dominique" is a 1963 French language popular song, written and performed by the Belgian female singer Jeannine Deckers, better known as Sœur Sourire ("Sister Smile" in French) or The Singing Nun. The song is about Saint Dominic, a Spanish-bo ...

, was a

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

(1866 – 99) and

mayor of Luxembourg City The Mayor of Luxembourg City is the mayor of Luxembourg's capital and largest city, Luxembourg City. The officeholder, like other mayors in Luxembourg, is appointed by the Grand Duke amongst council members. Due to the city's importance within the ...

(1891 – 94). His uncle,

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

, was a mining industrialist. Pierre's son, and Robert's cousin, Xavier, was a

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

deputy and member of Luxembourg City's council at the same time as Robert (until his death in 1912). In 1914, Robert married Jeanne de Saint-Hubert (sister of

Aline Mayrisch de Saint-Hubert Aline Mayrisch de Saint-Hubert née de Saint-Hubert (22 August 1874 – 20 January 1947) was a Luxembourg women's rights campaigner, socialite, philanthropist. Mayrisch established many non-governmental organisations and was President of the Lu ...

), who had previously divorced Xavier.

Footnotes

References

* Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) Councillors in Luxembourg City Liberal League (Luxembourg) politicians Luxembourgian classical liberals Alumni of the Athénée de Luxembourg

Robert Brasseur Robert Brasseur (19 November 1870 – 15 February 1934) was a Luxembourgish politician, jurist, and journalist. Born in Luxembourg, Brasseur was educated at the Athénée de Luxembourg, before studying law at University of Strasbourg and in Paris ( ...

1870 births 1934 deaths People from Luxembourg City Political party founders {{Luxembourg-politician-stub