Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb

Baron Charles-Ferdinand Nicolas Marie Pierre Nothomb (3 May 1936 – 19 April 2023) was a Belgian politician.

Baron
Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb
President of the Chamber of Representatives
In office
10 May 1988 – 8 June 1995
Preceded byErik Vankeirsbilck
Succeeded byJos Dupré
In office
3 April 1979 – 20 May 1980
Preceded byEdmond Leburton
Succeeded byJean Defraigne
Personal details
Born(1936-05-03)3 May 1936
Brussels, Belgium
Died19 April 2023(2023-04-19) (aged 86)
Political partyHumanist Democratic Centre

Family and early life

Nothomb was born in Brussels in 1936, the thirteenth and youngest child of the writer and politician Pierre Nothomb, and grew up in Habay in the province of Luxembourg. He was descended from Jean-Baptiste Nothomb, who served as Prime Minister of Belgium in the 1840s. In 1963 he married Michèle Pouppez de Kettenis de Hollaeken Dryepondt (born 1941), with whom he had three children, and inherited the title of Baron three years later.

He was an uncle of the diplomat Baron Patrick Nothomb and the politician François Roelants du Vivier and a great-uncle of the writers Juliette and Amélie Nothomb.[1]

Having obtained degrees in law (1957) and economic sciences (1958), Nothomb was a teacher and researcher at the Catholic University of Louvain and other higher education establishments, and was also involved in the Christian Social Party youth movement.

Political career

Nothomb was elected to the national Chamber of Representatives in 1968 to represent the constituency of Arlon-Marche-Bastogne, a seat he held until 1995.

He was president of the Humanist Democratic Centre party from 1972 to 1979 and president of the Chamber of Representatives from 1979 to 1980. Having served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1980, he was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1980 to 1981 and Minister of the Interior from 1981 to 1986. From 1988 to 1995 he served again as president of the Chamber of Representatives.

Upon his retirement from the Chamber in 1995, Nothomb served a four-year term in the Senate (1995−1999) and was again president of the Humanist Democratic Centre party from 1996 to 1999. From 2002 until his death he was Vice-President of European Movement.

Nothomb was also the author of several political and historical works.

He died on 19 April 2023, at the age of 86.[2]

Honours

Nothomb was awarded the following decorations:[3]

National honours

Foreign honours

References
  1. "Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb, éternel serviteur de la politique belge". Last Night in Orient (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  2. "Voormalige minister Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb overleden op 86-jarige leeftijd". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  3. Senate biography (French)
  4. Icelandic Presidency Website (Icelandic), Order of the Falcon, Nothomb, Charles Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Italian Presidency website, S.E. Charles Ferdinand NOTHOMB Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine - Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana
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