Metadata: Georges Theunis
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Belgium
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archives Générales du Royaume
- Postal address:
- Ruisbroekstraat 2-6 / Rue de Ruysbroeck 2-6, 1000 Brussel
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)2 513 76 80
- Web address:
- http://www.arch.be/
- Email:
- archives.generales@arch.be
- Reference number:
- NAB-Brussels-510-III.1549
- Title:
- Georges Theunis
- Title (official language):
- Georges Theunis
- Creator/accumulator:
- Theunis, Georges
- Date(s):
- 1915/1968
- Language:
- French
- English
- Extent:
- 32 linear metres
- Scope and content:
- The archive of Georges Theunis firstly contain correspondence with a number of dignitaries of the Belgian Jewish community – for example with Max Gottschalk (no. 539) and Max Horn (no. 544). Moreover, we also find correspondence with other Jewish individuals (see i.a. nos. 602 and 631). Lastly, the fonds also contains several files concerning the antisemitic persecutions in occupied Belgium and the Jewish refugees in neutral and allied countries – see no. 751 (concerning the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, World Jewish Congress and Belgian Jewish Representative Committee, 1941-1944), no. 752 (“Jewish diamond traders and the Belgian diamond industry”, 1940-1944) and no. 753 (“rabbis, exiled in the United States”, 1943-1944).
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Throughout his life, Georges Theunis (1873-1966), originating from the bourgeoisie in Liège, alternated his political career with a career in business. Theunis combined many functions as administrator and president of boards, i.a. for the Société Générale and affiliated groups and enterprises. As an electrical engineer, he initially worked for Empain (1898) and ACEC (1904). After the First World War, which he partially spent in London entrusted with various tasks from the Belgian government, he became i.a. the Belgian negotiator in the commission for war reparations (1919). Theunis was Prime Minister twice (1921-1925 and 1934-1935). He served as the Minister of Finance (1920-1925) and Defence (1932) and was also a co-opted senator (1925-1926) and Minister of State (1925). In the interwar period, he held various mandates in a number of technical committees, international organisations and administrations of the League of Nations. During the Second World War, Theunis worked in the United States as extraordinary ambassador with special mandate (1939-1944). In addition, he held (since 1926) functions in the National Bank, notably as trustee (regent)(1935) and governor (1941-1944). He also was i.a. the president of the Association des Patrons et Ingénieurs Catholiques (1931-1945) and of the Federatie der Katholieke Werkgevers (1935-1945), member of the Katholiek Verbond van België (1934), deputy director of the financial committee of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (1925-1966), president of the Centraal Bureau voor de Kleine Spaarders (1941-1944), etc. After the Second World War, Theunis returned to the world of business. He also devoted the last decades of his life to patronage of various social and cultural organisations. (“Georges Theunis (1873-1966)”, in ODIS - Database Intermediary Structures Flanders (accessible on http://www.odis.be); L.A. Bernardo y Garcia, Inventaire des archives de Georges Theunis 1915-1968 (principalement 1916-1945), I 494, Brussel, ARA-AGR, 2010.)
- Access points: locations:
- Belgium
- Access points: persons/families:
- Gottschalk, Max
- Horn, Max
- Theunis, Georges
- Finding aids:
- L.A. Bernardo y Garcia, Inventaire des archives de Georges Theunis 1915-1968 (principalement 1916-1945), I 494, Brussel, ARA-AGR, 2010.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
