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[[File:Félicien Cattier, 11-3-21 LOC npcc.05283 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Félicien Cattier (1921)]]
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'''Félicien Cattier''' (1869–1946) was a very prominent Belgian banker, financier and philanthropist. He was trained as a lawyer, professor of law at the [[Free University of Brussels]]. He was Vice Governor of the Société General de Belgique and Chairman of the [[Union minière du-Haut-Katanga]] amongst many other companies.<ref name="Koskenniemi2001">{{cite book|last=Koskenniemi|first=Martti|authorlink=Martti Koskenniemi|title=The Gentle Civilizer of Nations: The Rise and Fall of International Law 1870-1960|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=FjhA1GnvY9EC&pg=PA159|accessdate=4 November 2012|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-62311-7|page=159}}</ref>

⚫
'''Félicien Cattier''' (1869–1946) was a very prominent Belgian banker, financier and philanthropist. He was also professor of law at the [[Free University of Brussels (1834–1969)|Free University of Brussels]]. He was governor of the powerful trust, the [[Société Générale de Belgique]] and chairman of the [[Union minière du-Haut-Katanga]] amongst many other companies.<ref name="Koskenniemi2001">{{cite book|last=Koskenniemi|first=Martti|authorlink=Martti Koskenniemi|title=The Gentle Civilizer of Nations: The Rise and Fall of International Law 1870-1960|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjhA1GnvY9EC&pg=PA159|accessdate=4 November 2012|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-62311-7|page=159}}</ref>


== Life ==
== Life ==


Félicien Cattier was born in [[Cuesmes]] on 4 March 1869.<ref name="BCB">{{cite book|author=Académie royale des sciences d'outre-mer|title=Biographie coloniale belge: Belgische Koloniale biografie|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=NSsUAAAAIAAJ|accessdate=5 November 2012|publisher=Librairie Falk fils|page=189}}</ref>
Félicien Cattier was born in [[Cuesmes]] on 4 March 1869.<ref name="BCB">{{cite book|author=Académie royale des sciences d'outre-mer|title=Biographie coloniale belge: Belgische Koloniale biografie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NSsUAAAAIAAJ|accessdate=5 November 2012|publisher=Librairie Falk fils|page=189|year=1948}}</ref>
A member of the [[Royal Academy of Belgium]], Felicien Cattier made a brilliant career in finance and banking. He was a close associate of the Belgian [[King Albert I of Belgium|King Albert I]], [[Emile Francqui]], [[Adolphe Stoclet]], [[Paul Errera]], [[Emile Vandervelde]] and the Prime Minister and Minister of State [[Henri Jaspar]].
A member of the [[Royal Academy of Belgium]], Felicien Cattier made a brilliant career in finance and banking. He was a close associate of the Belgian [[King Albert I of Belgium|King Albert I]], [[Emile Francqui]], [[Adolphe Stoclet]], {{ill|Paul Errera|nl}}, politician [[Emile Vandervelde]], US President [[Herbert Hoover]] and the Prime Minister and Minister of State [[Henri Jaspar]].


He was Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Free University of Brussels from 1909 to 1911. He participated in the drafting of the colonial charter of the Belgian Congo and was a member of the Colonial Council.
He was Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Free University of Brussels from 1909 to 1911. He participated in the drafting of the colonial charter of the Belgian Congo and was a member of the Colonial Council.


Before moving towards the economic sector, under the influence of [[Albert Thys]], Felicien railed against the Congolese [[human zoo]] during the [[Brussels International (1897)|Brussels International exhibition of 1897]] and criticized the abuses of the [[Congo Free State]], then held as the personal property of [[Leopold II of Belgium|Leopold II]]. His book ''A Study of the situation in the Congo Free State'' (1906) was partly responsible for the formal [[Belgian Congo|annexation of Congo by the Belgian State]] in 1908. Cattier wrote: {{quote|The Congo State is not a colonizing state, hardly a state: it is a financial company [...] The colony has been administered neither in the interest of the natives nor even in the Belgian economic interests: its aim has simply been to procure a maximum of resources for the King himself.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://blogs.lesoir.be/chronologie/2008/11/15/comment-le-congo-devint-belge/ |title= Comment le Congo devint belge |author= Colette Braekman |date= 15 November 2008 |work= Lesoir.be - Jour après jour : l'actu dans le rétroviseur (''[[Le Soir]]'') |publisher= Brussels: Rossel |accessdate=5 November 2012 }}</ref>}}
Before moving towards the economic sector, under the influence of [[Albert Thys]], Felicien railed against the Congolese [[human zoo]] during the [[Brussels International (1897)|Brussels International exhibition of 1897]] and criticized the abuses of the Congo Free State, then held as the personal property of [[Leopold II of Belgium|Leopold II]]. His book ''A Study of the situation in the Congo Free State'' (1906) was partly responsible for the formal [[Belgian Congo|annexation of Congo by the Belgian State]] in 1908. Cattier wrote: {{blockquote|The Congo State is not a colonizing state, hardly a state: it is a financial company [...] The colony has been administered neither in the interest of the natives nor even in the Belgian economic interests: its aim has simply been to procure a maximum of resources for the King himself.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.lesoir.be/chronologie/2008/11/15/comment-le-congo-devint-belge/ |title=Comment le Congo devint belge |author=Colette Braekman |date=15 November 2008 |work=Lesoir.be - Jour après jour : l'actu dans le rétroviseur ([[Le Soir]]) |publisher=Brussels: Rossel |access-date=5 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130628001837/http://blogs.lesoir.be/chronologie/2008/11/15/comment-le-congo-devint-belge/ |archive-date=28 June 2013 }}</ref>}}


Having served as legal advisor to the King of Siam, he became secretary of the International Company of the East and Managing Director of Bank of Overseas and. He finished his career as governor of Societe Generale de Belgique after leading the main group of colonial societies at the Union Miniere Forminière, the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer du Congo or the Banque du Congo Belge.
Having served as legal advisor to the King of Siam, he became secretary of the International Company of the East and Managing Director of [[Banque d’Outremer]]. Throughout that time he did participate in the Belgian expansion in China - he was head of the Chinese Engineering and Mining Company and Chinese Central Railway. He then lead the main group of colonial societies at the [[Union minière du-Haut-Katanga]], the Forminière, the [[Compagnie Maritime Belge]], the [[Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer du Congo]] or the [[Banque du Congo Belge]] later called [[Banque Belgolaise]]. During WWII he was governor of the Société Générale de Belgique. He also played a role in exporting the uranium to the US which helped to create the atomic Bomb. In the Belgian Congo there was a town called Cattier in his honor and one of the congolese mineral is called Cattierite.


He was also one of the founders of the International Maritime Agency, the University Foundation and the National Fund for Scientific Research.
He was also one of the founders of the International Maritime Agency, the University Foundation and the National Fund for Scientific Research, the foundation Francqui and the Foundation Universitaire. He met the greatest scientist of the time, including Albert Einstein.


He died 4 February 1946 in [[Funchal]], [[Madeira]].<ref name="BCB"/>
He died 4 February 1946 in [[Funchal]], [[Madeira]].<ref name="BCB"/>


The Congolese community Lufu-called Foo, at the time, the Belgian Congo, and the ore Cattier cattierite was named in his honor. A conference room of the Free University of Brussels bears his name.
The Congolese community of [[Lufu-Toto]], then in the Belgian Congo, and the ore Cattier cattierite, were named in his honor. A conference room of the Free University of Brussels bears his name.

One of his sons, {{Ill|Jean Cattier|fr}}, was a prominent investment banker at [[Stock market|Wall Street]] and financial chief of [[Marshall Plan]] operations in West Germany.

One of his daughter, Marie Louise Cattier, married Marcel Godfrey Isaacs, son of [[Godfrey Isaacs]], managing director of the [[Marconi Company|Marconi's Wireless Telegraphy Company]], and nephew of [[Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading]] and Viceroy of India.


== Works ==
== Works ==
Line 22: Line 28:
*''Evolution du droit pénal germanique en Hainaut jusqu'au XVe siècle'' (Evolution of the German criminal law in Hainaut until the fifteenth century), 1893
*''Evolution du droit pénal germanique en Hainaut jusqu'au XVe siècle'' (Evolution of the German criminal law in Hainaut until the fifteenth century), 1893
*''Premier registre aux plaids de la cour féodale du comté de Hainaut (1333 à 1405)'' (First register of pleas at the feudal court of the Count of Hainaut, 1333 to 1405), 1893
*''Premier registre aux plaids de la cour féodale du comté de Hainaut (1333 à 1405)'' (First register of pleas at the feudal court of the Count of Hainaut, 1333 to 1405), 1893
*''Droit et Administration de l'Etat independant du Congo '' (Law and administration of the Independent State of Congo), 1898
*''Droit et Administration de l'Etat Indépendant du Congo '' (Law and administration of the Independent State of Congo), 1898
*''Étude sur la situation de l'État Indépendant du Congo'' (Study of the situation of the Independent State of Congo), 1906
*''Étude sur la situation de l'État Indépendant du Congo'' (Study of the situation of the Independent State of Congo), 1906


== Sources ==
== Sources ==


{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
*''Gouverner la Société Générale de Belgique'', Brussels: De Boeck, 1996.
*''Gouverner la Société Générale de Belgique'', Brussels: De Boeck, 1996.
*''Le nouveau dictionnaire des Belges'', Brussels: Le Cri, 1992.
*''Le nouveau dictionnaire des Belges'', Brussels: Le Cri, 1992.
*''Dictionnaire des Patrons de Belgique'', Brussels: De Boeck. 1996.
*''Dictionnaire des Patrons de Belgique'', Brussels: De Boeck. 1996.
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/12/obituaries/jean-cattier-88-dies-led-bank-consortium.html ''New York Times'']


== Sources ==
== External links ==
{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Authority control}}
1. ↑ a, b, c, d, e et f Cattier, Félicien [archive] sur Congo belge et Ruanda-Urundi: Septante-sept ans d'histoire postale en Afrique centrale (http://www.congoposte.be/ [archive]). Consulté le 25 février 2010. Source citée par la page web: DENOËL, Thierry. Le nouveau dictionnaire des Belges. Bruxelles: Le Cri, 1992.
2. ↑ Biographie d' H. Jaspar. [archive]
3. ↑ BRAECKMAN, Colette, « Comment le Congo devint belge. [archive] » sur Lesoir.be - Jour après jour: l'actu dans le rétroviseur (Le Soir), 15 novembre 2008, Bruxelles: Rossel. Consulté le 26 février 2010
4. ↑ Archives de la Banque d'Outremer [archive].
5. ↑ (en)Cattierite Mineral Data [archive] sur Webmineral.com. Consulté le 26 février 2010

{{Authority control|LCCN=|VIAF=24982405|GND=102081735}}


{{Persondata
| NAME = Cattier, Félicien
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1869
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = 1946
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cattier, Felicien}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cattier, Felicien}}
[[Category:1869 births]]
[[Category:1869 births]]
[[Category:1946 deaths]]
[[Category:1946 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Mons, Belgium]]
[[Category:Belgian jurists]]
[[Category:Belgian jurists]]
[[Category:Congo Free State people]]
[[Category:20th-century Belgian businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century Belgian lawyers]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Free University of Brussels (1834–1969)]]

Latest revision as of 06:21, 30 September 2024

Félicien Cattier (1921)

Félicien Cattier (1869–1946) was a very prominent Belgian banker, financier and philanthropist. He was also professor of law at the Free University of Brussels. He was governor of the powerful trust, the Société Générale de Belgique and chairman of the Union minière du-Haut-Katanga amongst many other companies.[1]

Life

[edit]

Félicien Cattier was born in Cuesmes on 4 March 1869.[2] A member of the Royal Academy of Belgium, Felicien Cattier made a brilliant career in finance and banking. He was a close associate of the Belgian King Albert I, Emile Francqui, Adolphe Stoclet, Paul Errera [nl], politician Emile Vandervelde, US President Herbert Hoover and the Prime Minister and Minister of State Henri Jaspar.

He was Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Free University of Brussels from 1909 to 1911. He participated in the drafting of the colonial charter of the Belgian Congo and was a member of the Colonial Council.

Before moving towards the economic sector, under the influence of Albert Thys, Felicien railed against the Congolese human zoo during the Brussels International exhibition of 1897 and criticized the abuses of the Congo Free State, then held as the personal property of Leopold II. His book A Study of the situation in the Congo Free State (1906) was partly responsible for the formal annexation of Congo by the Belgian State in 1908. Cattier wrote:

The Congo State is not a colonizing state, hardly a state: it is a financial company [...] The colony has been administered neither in the interest of the natives nor even in the Belgian economic interests: its aim has simply been to procure a maximum of resources for the King himself.[3]

Having served as legal advisor to the King of Siam, he became secretary of the International Company of the East and Managing Director of Banque d’Outremer. Throughout that time he did participate in the Belgian expansion in China - he was head of the Chinese Engineering and Mining Company and Chinese Central Railway. He then lead the main group of colonial societies at the Union minière du-Haut-Katanga, the Forminière, the Compagnie Maritime Belge, the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer du Congo or the Banque du Congo Belge later called Banque Belgolaise. During WWII he was governor of the Société Générale de Belgique. He also played a role in exporting the uranium to the US which helped to create the atomic Bomb. In the Belgian Congo there was a town called Cattier in his honor and one of the congolese mineral is called Cattierite.

He was also one of the founders of the International Maritime Agency, the University Foundation and the National Fund for Scientific Research, the foundation Francqui and the Foundation Universitaire. He met the greatest scientist of the time, including Albert Einstein.

He died 4 February 1946 in Funchal, Madeira.[2]

The Congolese community of Lufu-Toto, then in the Belgian Congo, and the ore Cattier cattierite, were named in his honor. A conference room of the Free University of Brussels bears his name.

One of his sons, Jean Cattier [fr], was a prominent investment banker at Wall Street and financial chief of Marshall Plan operations in West Germany.

One of his daughter, Marie Louise Cattier, married Marcel Godfrey Isaacs, son of Godfrey Isaacs, managing director of the Marconi's Wireless Telegraphy Company, and nephew of Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading and Viceroy of India.

Works

[edit]
  • Evolution du droit pénal germanique en Hainaut jusqu'au XVe siècle (Evolution of the German criminal law in Hainaut until the fifteenth century), 1893
  • Premier registre aux plaids de la cour féodale du comté de Hainaut (1333 à 1405) (First register of pleas at the feudal court of the Count of Hainaut, 1333 to 1405), 1893
  • Droit et Administration de l'Etat Indépendant du Congo (Law and administration of the Independent State of Congo), 1898
  • Étude sur la situation de l'État Indépendant du Congo (Study of the situation of the Independent State of Congo), 1906

Sources

[edit]
  1. ^ Koskenniemi, Martti (2001). The Gentle Civilizer of Nations: The Rise and Fall of International Law 1870-1960. Cambridge University Press. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-521-62311-7. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  2. ^ a b Académie royale des sciences d'outre-mer (1948). Biographie coloniale belge: Belgische Koloniale biografie. Librairie Falk fils. p. 189. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  3. ^ Colette Braekman (15 November 2008). "Comment le Congo devint belge". Lesoir.be - Jour après jour : l'actu dans le rétroviseur (Le Soir). Brussels: Rossel. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  • Gouverner la Société Générale de Belgique, Brussels: De Boeck, 1996.
  • Le nouveau dictionnaire des Belges, Brussels: Le Cri, 1992.
  • Dictionnaire des Patrons de Belgique, Brussels: De Boeck. 1996.
  • New York Times
[edit]

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