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