Jean-Baptiste, Baron Nothomb (3 July 1805 – 16 September 1881) 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 ...

statesman and diplomat, who served as 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 ...

from 1841 to 1845.

Life

Revolution

Born at

Messancy Messancy (; german: Metzig; lb, Miezeg; wa, Messanceye) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. Population On 1 January 2007 the municipality, had 7,466 inhabitants, giving a population density of 142.4 i ...

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 ...

on 3 July 1805, he 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 ...

and the

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...

, and was in Luxemburg when the Revolution of August broke out, but was nominated a member of the commission appointed to draw up the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

. Nothomb became a member of the national congress, and became secretary-general of the ministry of foreign affairs under Érasme-Louis Surlet de Chokier. He supported the candidature of the

Orléanist Orléanist (french: Orléaniste) was a 19th-century French political label originally used by those who supported a constitutional monarchy expressed by the House of Orléans. Due to the radical political changes that occurred during that centu ...

Louis, Duke of Nemours, and joined in the proposal to offer the crown to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, being one of the delegates sent to London. When the ''Eighteen Articles'' of the Treaty of London were replaced by the Twenty-four less favorable to Belgium, he insisted on the necessity of compliance, and in 1839 he faced violent opposition to support the territorial cessions in

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

and Luxemburg, which had remained an open question so long as the Netherlands refused to acknowledge the ''Twenty-four Articles''.

Later life

His ''Essai historique et politique sur la révolution belge'' (1838) won for him the praise of Palmerston and the cross of the

Legion of Honor 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 Napoleon ...

from

French king France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the firs ...

Louis Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...

. In 1837 he became minister of public works, and to him was largely due the rapid development of the Belgian railway system, and the increase in the

mining industry Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

. In 1840 he was sent as Belgian envoy to the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

, and in 1841, on the fall of the Lebeau ministry, he organized the new cabinet, reserving for himself the portfolio of minister of the interior. In

1845 Events January–March * January 10 – Elizabeth Barrett receives a love letter from the younger poet Robert Browning; on May 20, they meet for the first time in London. She begins writing her ''Sonnets from the Portuguese''. * January 23 ...

he was defeated, and retired from the Belgian Parliament, but he held a number of diplomatic appointments before his death in Berlin.

Honours

* : Knight Grand Cross in the

Order of Albert the Bear The House Order of Albert the Bear (German: ''Hausorden Albrechts des Bären'' or ''Der Herzoglich Anhaltische Hausorden Albrechts des Bären'') was founded in 1836 as a joint House Order by three dukes of Anhalt from separate branches of the fa ...

.Almanach royal officiel: 1875 * : Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold. * : Knight 1st Class;

Order of the Red Eagle The Order of the Red Eagle (german: Roter Adlerorden) was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful se ...

. * : 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 Napoleon, ...

. * Knight Grand Cross in the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

. * Knight Grand Cross in the

Order of the Zähringer Lion The Order of the Zähringer Lion was instituted on 26 December 1812 by Karl, Grand Duke of Baden , house = Zähringen , father = Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden , mother = Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt ...

. * Knight Grand Cross in the

Order of Charles III The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III ( es, Real y Distinguida Orden Española de Carlos III, originally es, Real y Muy Distinguida Orden de Carlos III) was establ ...

. * Knight Grand Cross in the

Order of Saint Michael , status = Abolished by decree of Louis XVI on 20 June 1790Reestablished by Louis XVIII on 16 November 1816Abolished in 1830 after the July RevolutionRecognised as a dynastic order of chivalry by the ICOC , founder = Louis XI of France , hig ...

. * Knight Grand Cross in the

Order of Philip the Magnanimous The Order of Merit of Philip the Magnanimous (german: Verdienstorden Philipps des Großmütigen) was an order of chivalry established by Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse on 1 May 1840, the name day of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, in his honour to a ...

. * : ** Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Christ. ** Officer in the

Order of the Tower and Sword The Ancient and Most Noble Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of the Valour, Loyalty and Merit ( pt, Antiga e Muito Nobre Ordem Militar da Torre e Espada, do Valor, Lealdade e Mérito), before 1910 Royal Military Order of the Tower an ...

. * : Knight Grand Cross in the

Saxe-Ernestine House Order The Saxe-Ernestine House Order (german: link=yes, Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden)Hausorden
Herz ...

. * Officer in the

Order of the Southern Cross Emperor Pedro I of Brazil founded the National Order of the Southern Cross ( pt, Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul) as a Brazilian order of chivalry on 1 December 1822. The order aimed to commemorate the independence of Brazil (7 September 1822) ...

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nothomb, Jean Baptiste 1805 births 1881 deaths Alumni of the Athénée de Luxembourg Barons Nothomb Belgian Ministers of State Liberal Party (Belgium) politicians Members of the National Congress of Belgium People from Messancy Prime Ministers of Belgium University of Liège alumni 19th-century Belgian historians 19th-century Belgian male writers Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion