Gérard (Gerard) François Marie Cooreman (25 March 1852 – 2 December 1926) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

Catholic Party politician. Born in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

, Cooreman was trained in law, and practised as a lawyer, but was more active as a businessman and financier, and became involved with Catholic social groups. In 1892 Cooreman was elected to the

Belgian Senate The Senate ( nl, Senaat, ; french: Sénat, ; german: Senat) is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parli ...

, and from 1898 to 1914 he represented Ghent in the

Belgian Chamber of Representatives The Chamber of Representatives (Dutch: , french: link=no, Chambre des représentants, german: link=no, Abgeordnetenkammer) is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered t ...

, holding the position of leader of the Chamber from 1908 to 1912. He held office as Labour and Industry minister for a short time in 1899, and on the fall of

Frans Schollaert François (Frans) Victor Marie Ghislain Schollaert (19 August 1851 – 29 June 1917) was a Belgian Catholic Party politician. Born in Wilsele, Schollaert trained as a lawyer and practiced in Leuven. He served as head of the Flemish farmer' ...

's government in 1911 he was asked to become the

prime minister of Belgium german: Premierminister von Belgien , insignia = State Coat of Arms of Belgium.svg , insigniasize = 100px , insigniacaption = Coat of arms , insigniaalt = , flag = Government ...

and form the new government, but declined. He was appointed an honorary

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...

in 1912 and left politics in 1914 to become a director of the

Société Générale de Belgique The ' ( nl, Generale Maatschappij van België; literally "General Company of Belgium") was a large Belgian bank and later holdings company which existed between 1822 and 2003. The ''Société générale'' was originally founded as an investm ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Cooreman followed the Belgian government into exile at

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

. On the fall of

Charles de Broqueville Charles Marie Pierre Albert, 1st Count de Broqueville (4 December 1860 – 5 September 1940) was the prime minister of Belgium, serving during World War I. Before 1914 Charles de Broqueville was born into an old noble family with its roots in ...

, King

Albert I of Belgium Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. Born in Brussels as the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern ...

appointed Cooreman to lead a new government on 1 June 1918. With the end of the war in November 1918, Cooreman resigned as the prime minister.

Honours

* :

, by Royal Decree. * : Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold, By royal Decree of 1918. * : Knight grand Cross in the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

* : Knight grand Cross in the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of t ...

* : Knight grand Cross in the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

* : Knight grand Cross in the Imperial

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight f ...

* Knight Commander in the

Order of Pius IX The Order of Pope Pius IX ( it, Ordine di Pio IX), also referred as the Pian Order ( it, Ordine Piano), is a papal order of knighthood originally founded by Pope Pius IV in 1560. Currently, it is the highest honor conferred by the Holy See (bein ...

References

External links

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Gerard Cooreman
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ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures

Archives of Gerard Cooreman
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ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures
, - 1852 births 1926 deaths Belgian Ministers of State Industry ministers of Belgium Labour ministers of Belgium Catholic Party (Belgium) politicians Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Politicians from Ghent Presidents of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Prime Ministers of Belgium {{Flanders-politician-stub