Paul Henri Spaak

Paul Henri Charles Spaak was an influential Belgian politician and statesman also considered as one of the founding fathers of the European Union. Spaak, a member of an influential Belgian political family, served briefly in World War I and rose to prominence after the war as a tennis player and lawyer, becoming famous for his highprofile defence of an Italian student accused of attempting to assassinate the Italys Crown Prince in 1929. A convinced socialist, Spaak entered politics in 1932 for the Belgian Workers Party and gained his first ministerial portfolio in the government of Paul Van Zeeland in 1935. He became Prime Minister of Belgium in 1938 and held the position until 1939. During World War II, he served as Foreign Minister in the Belgian government in exile under Hubert Pierlot, where he negotiated the foundation of the Benelux Customs Union with the governments of the Netherlands and Luxembourg. After the war, he twice regained the position of Prime Minister, first for un

PaulHenri Spaak was born onJanuary 1899 in Schaerbeek, Belgium, to a distinguished Belgian family. His grandfather, Paul Janson was an important member of the Liberal Party. His mother, Marie Janson was a socialist, and the first woman to enter the Belgian Senate, and his father, Paul Spaak was a poet and playwright. Another noted members of his family included Paul Henris daughter, Antoinette Spaak, the first Belgian woman to lead a political party, his uncle, PaulEmile Janson, who served as Prime Minister of Belgium from 1937 to 1938 and his niece, Catherine Spaak, a movie star.

Source: Wikipedia