Eugène Edouard César Gaëtan Soudan (4 December 1880 – 30 November 1960) was a lawyer, jurist and politician.

Biography

He was born into a liberal bourgeois family in the city of

Ronse Ronse (; french: Renaix, ) is a Belgian city and a municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality only encompasses the city of Ronse proper. History Early settlements to 14th century The hills around Ronse show clu ...

. He did his primary education in his hometown, he then makes his secondary studies at the Royal Grammar School in

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

and that of

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 in ...

. At the

University of Ghent Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

, then only French-speaking, he obtained a university degree in Philosophy and then continued to obtain a Doctor of Law with great distinction on 9 July 1904. He began a career as a lawyer in Brussels with in the office of Charles Dejongh, one of the most eminent jurists of the country at the time. In 1917, will be the chief of staff for the cabinet of

Emile Vandervelde Emile Vandervelde (25 January 1866 – 27 December 1938) was a Belgian socialist politician. Nicknamed "the boss" (''le patron''), Vandervelde was a leading figure in the Belgian Labour Party (POB–BWP) and in international socialism. Career Emi ...

. During the first world war, Soudan served as delegate of the interdepartmental commission of supplies. He was

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in 1938. During the second world war, Soudan was arrested in 1943 and detained in several prisons. From January 1944 until the Liberation, he was a prisoner in

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...

References

1880 births 1960 deaths 20th-century Belgian politicians People from Ronse Ghent University alumni Belgian Labour Party politicians Buchenwald concentration camp survivors Belgian people of World War II Belgian Ministers of Justice Belgian Ministers of State Foreign ministers of Belgium Finance ministers of Belgium {{Flanders-politician-stub