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Victor Auguste de Laveleye (6 November 1894 – 14 December 1945) was a Belgian liberal politician and minister. He also served as announcer on ''
Radio Belgique'' during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
De Laveleye was a doctor in law, and was municipality Council member of Sint-Gillis, President of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
(1936–1937) and Liberal member of parliament (1939–1945) for the district Brussels. De Laveleye was minister of justice (1937) and of public education (1944–1945). During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
he was newsreader for
Radio Belgique, a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
station transmitted to occupied Belgium.
Biography
Victor de Laveleye was born in
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 ...
on 6 November 1894. He was a son of Auguste-Albert and Emma Lynen, who belonged to a well-known
Antwerp liberal family. He also was a great nephew of the Liege professor
Émile Louis Victor de Laveleye.
He studied law at the
Free University of Brussels University of Brussels may refer to several institutions in Brussels, Belgium: Current institutions
* Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), a French-speaking university established as a separate entity in 1970
*Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), a D ...
(ULB) and became a lawyer at the
Brussels Court of Appeal.
[ ]
In 1926 he became a municipal councilor in
Saint-Gilles, Brussels. He also gave lectures at the ULB and was a reporter at the
Liberal Congress in 1932. He became a member of parliament, chairman of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
(1936–1937) and for a few months Minister of Justice in
Paul Van Zeeland
Paul Guillaume, Viscount van Zeeland (11 November 1893 – 22 September 1973) was a Belgian lawyer, economist, Catholic politician, and statesman born in Soignies.
Van Zeeland was a professor of law and later director of the Institute of Econ ...
's second government (1937).
In 1940 he fled to London via France. At the end of July 1940 he received the proposal to take charge of the broadcasts of the BBC that were intended for
German-occupied Belgium. On 28 September 1940, the first broadcast of
Radio Belgique was aired.
V sign
In a radio broadcast on 14 January 1941, de Laveleye asked all Belgians to use the letter "V" as a rallying sign, being the first letter of ''victoire'' (victory) in French and of ''vrijheid'' (freedom) in Dutch. This was the beginning of the "V campaign" which saw "V" graffities on the walls of Belgium and later all of Europe and introduced the use of the "
V sign
The ''V sign'' is a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers are raised and parted to make a V shape while the other fingers are clenched. It has various meanings, depending on the circumstances and how it is presented.
When displa ...
" for victory and freedom.
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
adopted the sign soon afterwards, though he sometimes got it the wrong way around by displaying the back of his hand, a gesture that is widely used in Great Britain as a lewd and vulgar insult (it means "fuck off").
Later life
After the liberation Victor de Laveleye became Minister of Public Education in the governments Pierlot V and VI, who did not last for five months (September 1944 – February 1945). He was already ill and on 16 December 1945, being 51 years old, he died.
Sports
He competed for Belgium in
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
at the
1920 and
1924 Summer Olympics and was an alternate, who did not play, on the Belgian 1928 hockey team. He was nephew of Baron
Edouard de Laveleye, chairman of the Belgian Olympic Committee.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:de Laveleye, Victor
1894 births
1945 deaths
Belgian politicians
Belgian people in the United Kingdom during World War II
Walloon sportspeople
Belgian male tennis players
Belgian radio presenters
Belgian radio journalists
Olympic tennis players of Belgium
Tennis players at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Sportspeople from Brussels
Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni