Editing Gaston Eyskens

{{Short description|Belgian prime minister (1905–1988)}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2009}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[Hochgeboren|The High-born]]
| name                = Gaston Eyskens
| image               = Gaston Eyskens (1969).jpg
| caption             = Eyskens in 1969
| office              = [[Prime Minister of Belgium]]
| monarch             = [[Baudouin of Belgium|Baudouin]]
| term_start          = 17 June 1968
| term_end            = 26 January 1973
| predecessor         = [[Paul Vanden Boeynants]]
| successor           = [[Edmond Leburton]]
| monarch2            = [[Baudouin I of Belgium|Baudouin]]
| term_start2         = 26 June 1958
| term_end2           = 25 April 1961
| predecessor2        = [[Achille Van Acker]]
| successor2          = [[Théo Lefèvre]]
| monarch3            = [[Leopold III of Belgium|Leopold III]]
| 1blankname3         = Regent
| 1namedata3          = [[Prince Charles, Count of Flanders|Prince Charles]]
| term_start3         = 11 August 1949
| term_end3           = 8 June 1950
| predecessor3        = [[Paul-Henri Spaak]]
| successor3          = [[Jean Duvieusart]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1905|4|1|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Lier, Belgium]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1988|1|3|1905|4|1|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Leuven]], Belgium
| party               = [[Christian Social Party (Belgium, defunct)|Christian Social Party]]
| spouse              = Gilberte De Petter
| alma_mater          = [[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|Catholic University of Leuven]]<br />[[Columbia University]]
}}
'''Gaston François Marie, Viscount Eyskens''' (1 April 1905 – 3 January 1988) was a [[Christian democracy|Christian democratic]] politician and [[prime minister of Belgium]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gaston Eyskens {{!}} Belgian politician, economist, statesman {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gaston-Eyskens |access-date=2023-08-02 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> He was also an economist and member of the Belgian [[Christian Social Party (Belgium, defunct)|Christian Social Party]] (CVP-PSC).<ref>{{Cite news |date=1988-01-05 |title=Gaston Eyskens Dies at Age 82; Led Six Governments in Belgium |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/05/obituaries/gaston-eyskens-dies-at-age-82-led-six-governments-in-belgium.html |access-date=2023-04-15 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

He served three terms as the prime minister of Belgium, holding the position from 1949 to 1950, 1958 to 1961 and 1968 to 1973. During his periods in office, Eyskens was confronted with major ideological and linguistic conflicts within Belgium including the [[Royal Question]] in 1950, the [[Second School War|School War]] in 1958, the independence of the [[Belgian Congo]] in 1960 and the split of the [[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|University of Leuven]] in 1970. He oversaw the first steps towards the federalization of Belgium (constitutional reform of 1970).

Eyskens led a centre cabinet in 1958, followed by two centre-right cabinets from 1958 to 1961, another centre cabinet from 1968 to 1972, and another centre-left cabinet from 1972 to 1973.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20240416115949/https://www.eumonitor.nl/9353000/1/j9vvik7m1c3gyxp/vgaxlcr0e008 eumonitor page on Belgium (in dutch)]</ref>

== Family==
Eyskens was born in [[Lier, Belgium|Lier]], the son of Antonius Franciscus Eyskens (1875–1948) and Maria Voeten (1872–1960). On 10 August 1931 he married Gilberte De Petter (1902–1981),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gw.geneanet.org/guyfoque?lang=en&n=de+petter&oc=0&p=gilberte|title=Family tree of Gilberte De Petter|website=Geneanet|access-date=18 October 2019}}</ref> daughter of the Leuvener politician {{ill|Emile De Petter|nl}}, with whom he had two sons: Erik Eyskens (Leuven, 20 July 1935 – Antwerp, 31 August 2008) and [[Mark Eyskens]]. His son Mark also became Prime Minister, serving from 6 April 1981 to 17 December 1981.

==Career==

===Academic career===

Eyskens studied at the [[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|Catholic University of Leuven]] where he gained a master and doctorate degree. In 1927 he became [[Master of Science]] at [[Columbia University]]. In 1931 Eyskens became a professor at the University of Leuven. He later became [[Dean (education)|dean]] of the economics [[Faculty (division)|faculty]]. He also served on the board of [[Lovanium University]] in the Congo.

Eyskens was made [[doctor honoris causa]] by Columbia University, the [[University of Cologne]] and the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]].

===Political career===
[[File:Prof. dr. G. Eyskens.jpg|thumb|Gaston Eyskens]]
During the early 1930s Eyskens was chief of staff of CVP ministers {{ill|Edmond Rubbens|fr}} and {{ill|Philip Van Isacker|nl}}. [[1939 Belgian general election|In 1939]] Eyskens was elected to the [[Belgian Chamber of Representatives]]. He was steadily re-elected ([[1946 Belgian general election|in 1946]], [[1949 Belgian general election|1949]], [[1950 Belgian general election|1950]], [[1954 Belgian general election|1954]], [[1958 Belgian general election|1958]] and [[1961 Belgian general election|1961]]) and served until 1965.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gaston Eyskens (Prime Minister of Belgium) |url=https://www.onthisday.com/people/gaston-eyskens |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=OnThisDay.com |language=en}}</ref>

In 1945 and between 1947 and 1949 he was [[Minister of Finance (Belgium)|Minister of Finance]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gaston Eyskens {{!}} Belgian politician, economist, statesman {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gaston-Eyskens |access-date=2023-08-02 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> On 11 August 1949 he became Prime Minister of Belgium in a coalition (Eyskens I) between Christian-democrats and liberals. His cabinet fell in June 1950 over the constitutional crisis caused by King [[Leopold III of Belgium|Leopold III]]'s actions during the [[Second World War]]. In the short lived government of [[Jean Duvieusart]] (June–August 1950) Eyskens was Minister of Economic Affairs.

Between 26 June 1958 and 6 November 1958, Eyskens led a minority government which was the most recent government of Belgium (Eyskens II) not to be a coalition government. On 6 November, Eyskens formed a coalition government with the liberals (Eyskens III) which remained in power until 3 September 1960. On 3 September 1960 he formed his third government (Eyskens IV), again a coalition with the liberal party. This government fell on 25 April 1961 over the Unitary Law (which raised the fiscal pressure by 7 billion Belgian francs, cut spending in education and the military, and reformed unemployment benefits and government pensions) and had caused large-scale strikes. During these years he also had to deal with the School War and the independence of the [[Belgian Congo]].

[[File:Belgische Minister President G. Eyskens en minister van Buitenlandse Zaken P. Ha, Bestanddeelnr 922-0717.jpg|thumb|left|l.t.r. [[Joseph Luns]], [[Piet de Jong]], Gaston Eyskens and [[Pierre Harmel]] in 1969]]
In the [[1965 Belgian general election|general election of 1965]] Eyskens was elected to the [[Belgian Senate]] (re-elected in [[1968 Belgian general election|1968]] and [[1971 Belgian general election|1971]]). In the government led by [[Pierre Harmel]] (1965–1966) he again served as [[Minister of Finance (Belgium)|Minister of Finance]]. Student unrest and questions of discrimination against the ethnic Flemish population brought down the Belgian government in February 1968. On 17 June 1968, Gaston Eyskens formed his fifth government (Eyskens V); this time a centre-left coalition between the Christian Democrats and the Socialists. On 20 January 1973, he formed his sixth and last government (Eyskens VI), again a coalition with the Socialists.

His last two governments were plagued by linguistic troubles regarding the split of the old bilingual [[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|Catholic University of Leuven]] into a Dutch-language university (the [[Katholieke Universiteit Leuven]]), which stayed in Leuven and a French-language university which moved to [[Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve|Louvain-la-Neuve]] and became the [[Université catholique de Louvain]] and the start of the process of changing Belgium from a unitary state into a federation with the creation of the [[Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium|Communities]]. Upon the fall of his last government Gaston Eyskens retired from politics.  He died in [[Leuven]].
{{Clear}}

===Honours===
* {{flag|Belgium}}: [[Minister of State (Belgium)|Minister of State]] by RD of 5 April 1963.
* {{flag|Belgium}}: Created Viscount Eyskens by RD in September 1973.
* {{flag|Belgium}}: Member of the Royal Academy.
* {{flag|Belgium}}: Commander in the [[Order of Leopold II]], by RD of 15 February 1946.
* {{flag|Belgium}}: Knight Grand Cross in the [[Order of the Crown (Belgium)|Order of the Crown]], by RD of 8 April 1954.
* Knight Commander in the [[Order of Saint Gregory the Great]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ars-moriendi.be/EYSKENS.HTM|title=EYSKENS|website=ars-moriendi.be|access-date=18 October 2019|archive-date=16 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516042444/http://www.ars-moriendi.be/EYSKENS.HTM|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101126232618/http://premier.fgov.be/nl/biografie/gaston-eyskens Gaston Eyskens at Belgium Prime Minister]
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/199458/Gaston-Eyskens/199458main/Article Gaston Eyskens at Encyclopædia Britannica]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=2-kjAQAAIAAJ&q=After+the+1968+elections,+a+centre-left+cabinet+composed+of+CVP-PSC+and+Socialists+and+headed+by+Flemish+Catholic+Prime+Minister+Gaston+Eyskens+%281968-71%29+sought+to+implement+the+constitutional+reform+previously+outlined+by+the+Lefevre Territorial Party Politics in Western Europe]
* [http://www.odis.be/lnk/en/PS_7126 Gaston Eyskens] in [https://www.odis.eu ODIS – Online Database for Intermediary Structures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428134547/https://www.odis.eu/ |date=28 April 2016 }}
* [http://www.odis.be/lnk/en/AE_919 Archives of Gaston Eyskens] in [https://www.odis.eu ODIS – Online Database for Intermediary Structures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428134547/https://www.odis.eu/ |date=28 April 2016 }} 
* [https://kuleuven.limo.libis.be/discovery/search?vid=32KUL_KUL:KULeuven&tab=all_content_tab&offset=0&query=any,contains,Herkomstcollectie%20Gaston%20Eyskens Gaston Eyskens Collection] in [[Academic libraries in Leuven|KU Leuven Libraries]]

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Paul-Henri Spaak]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Belgium]]|years=1949–1950}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jean Duvieusart]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Achille Van Acker]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Belgium]]|years=1958–1961}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Théo Lefèvre]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Paul Vanden Boeynants]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Belgium]]|years=1968–1973}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Edmond Leburton]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{BelgianPrimeMinisters}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyskens, Gaston}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1988 deaths]]
[[Category:Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni]]
[[Category:Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:Belgian economists]]
[[Category:Christian Democratic and Flemish politicians]]
[[Category:Christian Social Party (Belgium, 1945) politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Belgian politicians]]
[[Category:Politicians from Leuven]]
[[Category:People from Lier, Belgium]]
[[Category:Ministers of state of Belgium]]
[[Category:Ministers of finance of Belgium]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of Belgium]]
[[Category:Viscounts of Belgium]]
[[Category:Belgian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:People of the Congo Crisis]]

<!-- Honours -->
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of Leopold II]]