François Altwies (11 November 1869 – 5 July 1936) was a

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

ish politician. He sat in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

, of which he served as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

from 1917 until 1925. Altwies was a lawyer by profession, and was appointed

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

Junglinster Junglinster () is a commune and town in central Luxembourg, in the canton of Grevenmacher. The 18th-century St Martin's church is a national monument. History The oldest mention of ''Lincera'' (the "linster" part of the place name) is in docu ...

in 1897, before holding that office in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

from 1922.Mersch (1967), p. 373 He was first elected to the Chamber in 1911, representing the canton of

Grevenmacher Grevenmacher (; ) is a commune with town status in eastern Luxembourg, near the border with Germany. It gives its name to the canton of Grevenmacher, and, until its abolition in 2015, the district of Grevenmacher. The town is situated on the l ...

. A conservative, Altwies joined the Party of the Right (PD) upon its formation in 1914. He was reelected in 1915 and 1918. An eloquent and prominent member, Altwies became, along with Emile Prüm,

Joseph Bech Joseph Bech (17 February 1887 – 8 March 1975)Thewes, Guy"Les gouvernements du Grand-Duché depuis 1848." Service information et presse. Luxembourg: Imprimerie Centrale, 2011. was a Luxembourgish politician and lawyer. He was the prime minist ...

, and

Auguste Thorn Auguste may refer to: People Surname * Arsène Auguste (1951–1993), Haitian footballer * Donna Auguste (born 1958), African-American businesswoman * Georges Auguste (born 1933), Haitian painter * Henri Auguste (1759–1816), Parisian gold a ...

, one of the PD's main weapons on the floor of the Chamber. He became vice-president of the chamber on 28 June 1917 when

Léon Kauffman Léon Kauffman (16 August 1869 – 25 March 1952)Thewes (2011), p. 75 was a Luxembourgish politician. He was prime minister of Luxembourg, serving for one year, from 18 June 1917 until 28 September 1918. Biography After studying law, in 1893 ...

, a fellow PD member, became

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

.Mersch (1967), p. 375 Only four months later, he was elevated to president, in which capacity he remained until 1925, when the Party of the Right lost their overall majority in the chamber (the only spell in the era of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

in which any party has held it). Altwies played a key role in putting down the attempted communist revolution led by Émile Servais in January 1919, calling upon French soldiers to intervene in the crisis. When proportional representation was introduced, in

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off th ...

, he moved to representing ''

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'', for which he was returned again in

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

and

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

. He was appointed a Councillor of State in 1933. He died on 5 July 1936 in Luxembourg City.Mersch (1967), p. 377 He married Elise Wurth (1879–1966) on 21 May 1901. They lived together on the ''maison de maître'' of

's prestigious Boulevard Royal.Mersch (1967), p. 376

Decorations

Altwies was awarded the following national decorations: * Belgium: Order of the Crown of Belgium (Grand Cross) * France:

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(Commander) * Italy:

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...

(Grand Cross) * Luxembourg ** Order of Adolphe of Nassau (Grand Officer) **

Order of the Oak Crown The Order of the Oak Crown (, , ) is an order (honour), order of the Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. History The Order of the Oak Crown was established in 1841 by William II of the Netherlands, Grand Duke William II, who was also King o ...

(Grand Officer)

Footnotes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Altwies, Francois Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg from Grevenmacher Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) Members of the Council of State of Luxembourg Party of the Right (Luxembourg) politicians Luxembourgian notaries Luxembourgian people of World War I 1869 births 1936 deaths People from Remich Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Commanders of the Legion of Honour