Adolphe Max

Adolphe Eugène Jean Henri Max (30 December 1869 – 6 November 1939) was a Belgian liberal politician and Mayor of Brussels from 1909 until his death.

Adolphe Max
Adolphe Max
Born
Adolphe Eugène Jean Henri Max

(1869-12-30)30 December 1869
Brussels, Belgium
Died6 November 1939(1939-11-06) (aged 69)
NationalityBelgium
Occupationpolitician, lawyer

He graduated in law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and entered the legal profession, besides doing journalistic work. When he was 25 years old, he was elected a province councillor for Brabant, and was elected a city councillor in 1903. After he had worked as a magistrate, he was appointed city mayor of Brussels on 6 December 1909.

Under the German occupation of Brussels during the First World War, Max refused to cooperate with the occupying forces. As a result, he was arrested and held in captivity, first at Namur, and then at Glatz and Goslar, until he escaped on 13 November 1918. Charles Lemonnier was acting mayor during his captivity. On his return to Brussels, he was greeted as a hero.

In 1919, he was elected to the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, where he campaigned for universal adult suffrage, a goal not achieved until after his death.

Among the monuments from Max's time in office as mayor of Brussels are parts of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium and the Heysel exhibition park built for the Expo of 1935, begun to mark the centenary of the Belgian Revolution of 1830.

Adolphe Max was an irregular freemason, an honorary Minister of State and a member of the Institut de France. Boulevard Adolphe Max, a main boulevard of the City of Brussels, is named after him. Primary and secondary schools near Square Ambiorix are named after him. There is also a Place Adolphe Max in the 9th arrondissement of Paris which was named after him in January 1940, shortly after his death.

Honours

See also

References
  1. Journal De Bruxelles 29-10-1910
  2. RD 17/12/1918
  3. RD 24.11.1932

Sources
  • Grojean, O., Adolphe Max, in : Le Flambeau, I, 1918, nr. 6, p. 178.
  • Seyl, A., Un grand citoyen : Adolphe Max, in : Revue de Bruxelles, April 1958, p. III.
  • Vierset, A., Adolphe Max, in : Cahiers Historiques, Série IV, 1964, nr. 33, p. 83.
  • Cooremans, Lucien, Adolphe Max, bourgmestre des heures tragiques et des heures glorieuses, in : De 1830 à 1958. Douze bourgmestres libéraux ont fait de Bruxelles une des plus prestigieuses capitales, s.l., s.n., s.d., s.p.



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