Eugène Jungers (1888–1958) 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 ...

colonial

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

. Beginning his career in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

as a colonial magistrate, Jungers rose rapidly through the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

and became the colonial governor of the

League of Nations Mandate A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administ ...

Ruanda-Urundi Ruanda-Urundi (), later Rwanda-Burundi, was a colonial territory, once part of German East Africa, which was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under militar ...

from 1932 to 1946. In 1946, Jungers was further promoted to Governor-General of the Belgian Congo, the senior administrative position in the colony, which he held from 1946 to 1952.

Early life

Jungers was born in

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 ...

, a small

town on the border with

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 19 July 1888 to a family of Luxembourgish ancestry. He studied at 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 ...

, graduating with a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

in 1910. Joining the Belgian colonial service, Jungers arrived in the

in 1911 where he took up a position as junior magistrate. Posted around the colony, he quickly rose through the ranks of the colonial

. In 1924, he was made

resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceuti ...

of Ruanda. In 1932, he was promoted to the rank of Vice Governor-General and was given responsibility for the Belgian

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

mandate of

(modern-day

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

and

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

), replacing

Charles Voisin Charles Voisin (12 July 1882 in Lyon – 26 September 1912 in Belleville-sur-Saône) was an early aviation pioneer from France. He was the younger brother of Gabriel Voisin, also an aviation pioneer. Biography Charles joined his brother in ...

. He held the position until 1946; a tenure which included

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 opposin ...

and the

Ruzagayura famine The Ruzagayura famine () was a major famine which occurred in the Belgian mandate of Ruanda-Urundi (modern-day Rwanda and Burundi) during World War II. It led to numerous deaths and a huge population migration out of the territory and into the nei ...

of 1943–44. In 1946, Jungers was promoted as the replacement for Pierre Ryckmans as Governor-General of the Belgian Congo, the most important administrative position in the colony. He held the position until 1952 after which he took a board position at the

Office des transports coloniaux An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duti ...

(OTRACO). He received a

noble title Traditional rank amongst European royalty, peers, and nobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and among geographic regions (for example, one region's prince might be equal to another's grand duke), ...

in 1956 and died 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 ...

in 1958.

References

Bibliography

External links

Gouverneurs du Congo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jungers, Eugene 1888 births 1958 deaths Colonial governors of Ruanda-Urundi Alumni of the Athénée de Luxembourg Governors-General of the Belgian Congo University of Liège alumni 20th-century Belgian judges Belgian people of Luxembourgian descent People from Messancy Belgian Congo judges