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{{Short description|Belgian socialist politician}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=
{{Infobox
| name = Achille Van Acker
| image =
| office = [[Prime Minister of Belgium]]
|caption = Van Acker, photographed in 1956▼
|
| term_start = 23 April 1954
|monarch = [[Baudouin of Belgium|Baudouin]]▼
|
|
|
| 1blankname2 = Regent
| 1namedata2 = [[Prince Charles, Count of Flanders|Prince Charles]]
|term_start2 = 31 March 1946▼
|
| term_end2 = 3 August 1946
|predecessor2 = [[Paul-Henri Spaak]]▼
|
| successor2 = [[Camille Huysmans]]
| monarch3 = [[Leopold III of Belgium|Leopold III]]
|term_start3 = 12 February 1945▼
| 2blankname3 = Regent
| 2namedata3 = [[Prince Charles, Count of Flanders|Prince Charles]]
|predecessor3 = [[Hubert Pierlot]]▼
▲| term_start3 = 12 February 1945
|office4 = [[List of Presidents of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives|President of the Chamber of Representatives]]▼
▲| predecessor3 = [[Hubert Pierlot]]
|term_start4 = 27 April 1961▼
|term_end4 = 30 April 1974▼
▲| office4 = [[List of Presidents of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives|President of the Chamber of Representatives]]
|predecessor4 = [[Paul Kronacker]]▼
▲| term_start4 = 27 April 1961
|successor4 = [[André Dequae]]▼
▲| term_end4 = 30 April 1974
|birth_date = {{birth date|1898|4|8|df=y}}▼
▲| predecessor4 = [[Paul Kronacker]]
|birth_place = [[Bruges]], Belgium▼
▲| successor4 = [[André Dequae]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1975|7|10|1898|4|8|df=y}}▼
▲| birth_date = {{birth date|1898|4|8|df=y}}
|death_place = Bruges, Belgium▼
▲| birth_place = [[Bruges]], Belgium
|party = [[Belgian Labour Party]] <small>(1918–44)</small><br/>[[Belgian Socialist Party]] <small>(1944–)</small>▼
▲| death_date = {{death date and age|1975|7|10|1898|4|8|df=y}}
▲| death_place = Bruges, Belgium
▲| party = [[Belgian Labour Party]] <small>(1918–44)</small><br />[[Belgian Socialist Party]] <small>(1944–)</small>
}}
'''Achille Van Acker''' (8 April 1898 – 10 July 1975) was a [[Belgium|Belgian]] politician who served
==Biography==
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In May 1940, Belgium [[Battle of Belgium|was invaded]] by Nazi Germany. Following the Belgian surrender and the start of the [[German occupation of Belgium during World War II|German occupation]], the head of the POB–BWP [[Henri de Man]] announced the dissolution of the socialist party as part of a policy of collaborationism.{{sfn|Nouvelle Biographie Nationale|p=364}} Van Acker retreated from public life.{{sfn|Nouvelle Biographie Nationale|p=364}} In 1941, however, he rejoined the illegal socialist party and underground trade union movement under the ''[[nom de guerre]]'' "Monsieur André" and travelled around the country making contact with party sections.{{sfn|Nouvelle Biographie Nationale|pp=364-5}} At the [[Liberation of Belgium]] in September 1944, Van Acker emerged as the head of the POB–BWP's successor party, the [[Belgian Socialist Party]] (''Belgische Socialistische Partij'', PSB-BSP).{{sfn|Nouvelle Biographie Nationale|pp=364-5}}
In December 1944, while serving as a government minister, Van Acker implemented Belgium's social security system.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Surviving Hitler and Mussolini: Daily Life in Occupied Europe|author1=Gildea, R.|author2=Wieviorka, O.|author3=Warring, A.|date=2006|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=9781845201814|url=https://books.google.
=== Prime minister ===
After the Second World War, Van Acker became Prime Minister of Belgium in four different cabinets and served as Minister of Labour and Social Services, Minister of Public Health, Minister of Mobility and Minister of Mining (which led to his nickname). From 1961 until 1974 he served as President of the Chamber of Representatives. He was named Minister of State in 1958. During Van Acker's first premiership, compulsory disability insurance<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=64U_dlAI6g0C&pg=PA222|title=Two Centuries of Solidarity: German, Belgian, and Dutch Social Health Care Insurance 1770-2008|
To improve health and safety in mines, a decree was introduced in December 1945 provididing for the compulsory use in dusty places of devices "capable of allaying or suppressing coal and stone dust."<ref>SAFETY IN COAL MINES VOLUME I: Organisation on the National and International Levels, International Labour Office, Geneva, 1953</ref> A number of laws were also passed from April 1945 onwards that liberalized entitlement to allowances for deportees of foreign nationality.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UFVFmxjpqLgC&pg=PA89|title=The Jews are Coming Back: The Return of the Jews to Their Countries of Origin After WW II|last=Bankier|first=David|date=2005-01-01|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=9781571815279|language=en}}</ref>
An Order of October 1945 issued general regulations for the medical control of workers in industrial and commercial undertakings, public services and public utilities. Another Order introduced that same month issued general regulations concerning personal equipment for health protection.<ref>http://staging.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/P/09611/09611(1946-22).pdf</ref> Following a 1940 law that enabled homeowners wishing to begin reconstruction of their properties to apply for a “repair loan at a low rate of interest, an Act was passed in December 1945 that enabled them to acquire an interest-free advance on their compensation.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P84es4zwTiAC&pg=PA264|title=Living with History, 1914 - 1964: la Reconstruction en Europe Après la Première Et la Seconde Guerre Mondiale Et Le Rôle de la Conservation Des Monuments Historiques|last=Bullock|first=Nicholas|last2=Verpoest|first2=Luc|date=2011-01-01|publisher=Leuven University Press|isbn=9789058678416|language=en}}</ref> That same month, a Supreme Council for Hygiene in Mines was established with the aim of furthering the progress of industrial hygiene.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u14WxkRX9LEC&pg=PA5|title=Coal Mines Committee|publisher=International Labour Organization|language=en}}</ref> In February 1946, the formation of safety and hygiene committees was made compulsory.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QD3pAAAAMAAJ|title=Industrial Safety Survey|date=1950-01-01|publisher=International Labour Office.|language=en}}</ref> In September 1945, workers’ compensation was extended to household maids, and for accidents to and from work in December 1945.<ref>http://www.asf.com.pt/NR/rdonlyres/C5875B58-AD90-4508-8012-321A93CF0871/0/Interven%C3%A7%C3%A3oCarineLuyckx281113.pdf</ref> A Legislative Order of January 1946 regulating annual holidays covered all persons “bound by contracts for the hiring of services or by contracts of apprenticeship,” and laid down the essential principles for the grant of paid holidays, “leaving scope for their adaptation to the special needs of the various branches of industrial activity.”<ref>http://staging.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/1949/49B09_90_engl.pdf</ref>▼
▲An Order of October 1945 issued general regulations for the medical control of workers in industrial and commercial undertakings, public services and public utilities. Another
The first three cabinets led by Van Acker were short-lived because of the [[Royal Question|crisis pertaining to]] [[Leopold III of Belgium|Leopold III]] which held Belgium in its grip from 1944 to 1951.
Initiatives were taken by Van Acker's fourth cabinet to expand social spending on pensions, housing, employment, and education. Steps were also taken to reduce the workweek and to reduce the term of compulsory military service from 21 to 18 months.<ref>Democratic Socialism: A Global Survey Donald F. Busky</ref> A 45-hour workweek was introduced in 1955, and
{{check quotation}}
Altogether, the various social reforms realised under Van Acker's fourth cabinet led him to be known as the father of Belgian [[social security]].
=== Later life and death ===
Van Acker died on 11 July 1975, at the age of 77.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/07/11/archives/achille-van-acker-is-dead-at-77-exsocialist-premier-of-belgium.html | title=Achille van Acker is Dead at 77; Ex‐Socialist Premier of Belgium | newspaper=The New York Times | date=11 July 1975 }}</ref>
==Authography==
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== Honours ==
*
*
*
*
* Knight Grand cross in the [[Order of Orange-Nassau]].<ref
* Knight Grand cross in the [[Legion of Honour]].
* Knight Grand cross in the [[Order of the Oak Crown]].
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===Bibliography===
*{{cite book|ref={{harvid|Nouvelle Biographie Nationale}}|chapter=VAN ACKER, Achille Honoré
==External links==
{{
* {{PM20|FID=pe/000085}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnBuKwHZgVM Why 11 April 1954 Is Statistically The Most Boring Day Ever] Video that mentions Van Acker's 1954 election to Prime Minister as probably the most important event that happened that day.
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[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1975 deaths]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Belgian Socialist Party politicians]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Presidents of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium)]]
[[Category:Prime
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[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
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