Jules Laurent Jean Louis Renkin (3 December 1862 – 15 July 1934) was a Belgian politician who served as

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 ...

from 1931 to 1932. He also served as the minister of colonies for the Belgian Congo from 30 October 1908 to 21 November 1918. Born in

Ixelles (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...

, Renkin studied and practised law, and helped found the journal ''L'Avenir Sociale''. In 1896 he was elected as a member of the Catholic Party to the

Belgian Chamber of Representatives The Chamber of Representatives (; ; ) is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered to be the "lower house" of the Federal Parliament. Members and elections Article 62 o ...

for

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, a seat he held until his death. Original on the

Christian Democratic Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

wing of the party, Renkin's views became more conservative with time. He held several ministerial posts, Justice in 1907–1908, Colonies from 1908 to 1918, the Interior in 1918–1920, and Railway and Posts from 1918 to 1921. In 1920 he was named an honorary

minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

. In 1931 he became the

prime minister of Belgium The prime minister of Belgium (; ; ) or the premier of Belgium is the head of the federal government of Belgium, and the most powerful person in Belgian politics. The first head of government in Belgian history was Henri van der Noot in 179 ...

, also holding the Interior,

Finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

, and Health portfolios. His government was unable to deal effectively with the economic crisis facing Belgium at the time and fell in 1932. His term coincided with the general strike of July-September 1932. He was married to Emma van Hamme.

Honours

* :

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

by Royal Decree. * : Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold, RD 1932. * : Grand Cross of the

Order of the African Star The Order of the African Star (; ) was established by Leopold II of Belgium on 30 December 1888, in his capacity as ruler of the Congo Free State, and was awarded for services to Congo and for the "promotion of African civilisation in general". I ...

, RD 1921. * : Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown * : Grand Cross of the

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 ...

* Grand Cross of the

Order of Saint Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great (; ) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See. The honor is b ...

, 1932. * : Grand Cross with Collar of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and ...

* : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

* : Grand Cross of the

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 of the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...

* Grand Cross of the

Order of the Lion and the Sun The Imperial Order of the Lion and the Sun (Persian language, Persian: نشان سلطنتی شیر و خورشید) was instituted by Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar, Fat’h Ali Shah of the Qajar dynasty in 1808 to honour foreign officials (later extend ...

* : Officer of the

Order of the Redeemer The Order of the Redeemer (), also known as the Order of the Saviour, is an order of merit of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the modern Greek state. Establishment The establishment of the Orde ...

References

External links

Jules Renkin
i
ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures
1862 births 1934 deaths Ministers of state of Belgium Prime ministers of Belgium Ministers of finance of Belgium Ministers of justice of Belgium Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) {{Brussels-politician-stub