Wilfried Achiel Emma Martens (Dutch: ; 19 April 1936 – 9 October 2013) was a Belgian politician. He was born in Sleidinge (East Flanders). During his political career, Martens served as the Prime Minister of Belgium from 3 April 1979 to 6 April 1981 and 17 December 1981 to 7 March 1992.
Contents
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Political career 1
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Private life 2
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Death and tributes 3
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Honours 4
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See also 5
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Publications 6
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References 7
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External links 8
Political career
Martens was a Chair of the Belgian Christian People's Party (now renamed Christian Democratic and Flemish party, CD&V) from 1972 to 1979, sitting as a Deputy in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives (federal parliament) from 1974 to 1991, and serving as a Senator from 1991 to 1994.
Wilfried Martens served as Prime Minister in nine coalition governments (Martens I-IX) from 3 April 1979 to 6 April 1981 and 17 December 1981 to 7 March 1992. His period in office was dominated by the economic crisis of the 1980s and the state reforms of 1980 and 1988 which set Belgium on a path to federalism.
He co-founded the European People's Party (EPP) in 1976 and was EPP President from 1992 until his death.
From 1993 he was President of the European Union of Christian Democrats (EUCD), until its merger with the EPP in 1996. Martens also negotiated with Finnish conservative politician European political party with 75 member-parties from 40 countries – is widely recognised as an important achievement of his European political legacy.
From 1994 to 1998, he was a Member of the European Parliament, chairing the EPP Group.
From October 2000 to November 2001 he was also the President of the Christian Democrat International (CDI).
He re-appeared on the Belgian political stage on 22 December 2008 to help in the 2007–2011 Belgian political crisis.
Martens held a doctorate in law, a degree in notarial studies, as well as a baccalaureate in Thomistic philosophy from the Catholic University of Louvain. He also studied international political science at Harvard University. He has practised law at the Ghent Court of Appeal.
Among numerous national and international distinctions, he was honoured in 1998 with the Charles V European Award for his contribution to European Union.
Private life
Martens had five children: two from his first marriage with Lieve Verschroeven (Kris and Anne) and three with Ilse Schouteden (Sarah, Sophie and Simon). After the birth of their twins in 1997 they married on 13 November 1998. Ilse Schouteden has a son from her previous marriage. In 2007 he divorced his second wife. On 27 September 2008 he married Miet Smet, a former Belgian minister. It was his third marriage and her first. After the death of his first wife, Martens was able to celebrate the marriage to Miet Smet in the Catholic Church, on 27 April 2013.
Death and tributes
Martens died of cancer on 9 October 2013, at his home in Lokeren; he was 77.[1][2] Elio Di Rupo, the current Belgian prime minister, described him as a "true statesman and one of the fathers of federal Belgium".[2] Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, paid tribute to him as a "statesman of Belgium, Europe and an outstanding leader of European Parliament".[2] Jerzy Buzek, EPP MEP and former prime minister of Poland, described him as "irreplaceable".[2]
The EPP think tank Centre for European Studies has been renamed after him, now being the "Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies", a decision taken during the EPP Congress in Dublin held on 9 March 2014.[3]
Honours
Foreign honours
See also
Publications
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On 10 September 2009, Wilfried Martens presented his book
Europe: I Struggle, I Overcome in a public event organized by the
Centre for European Studies (CES), the official
think-tank of the European People's Party.
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Een gegeven woord, Lannoo, Tielt, 1985.
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Europa voorbij Oost en West, Lannoo, Tielt, 1995.
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De Memoires, Luctor et Emergo, Lannoo, Tielt, 2006.
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Europe: I Struggle, I Overcome, Springer Science+Business Media, 2009.[7]
References
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^ "Oud-premier Wilfried Martens is overleden". De Redactie. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
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^ a b c d "Belgian statesman Wilfried Martens dies aged 77". BBC News. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
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^ "Centre for European Studies renamed in honour of its founder Wilfried Martens". 10 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
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^ "Martens, Wilfried". Falkadb.forseti.is. 1979-10-16. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
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^ "Presidenza della Repubblica". Quirinale.it. 1986-02-20. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
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^ "CIDADÃOS ESTRANGEIROS AGRACIADOS COM ORDENS PORTUGUESAS - Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas". Ordens.presidencia.pt. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
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^ "Europe: I Struggle, I Overcome: Wilfried Martens: 9783540892885: Amazon.com: Books". Amazon.com. 2009-08-28. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
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