Aloys (Alois) Jean Maria Joseph, Viscount Van de Vyvere (8 June 1871 – 22 October 1961) was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.

Biography

Born in Tielt, Van de Vyvere studied law and philosophy and worked as a lawyer in Ghent, where he served as a local councillor between 1909 and 1911. In 1911 he was elected to the Belgian Chamber of Representatives for Roeselare and Tielt with the strong support of the Boerenbond (farmers' union). On 25 February 1920, he cofounded the oil company Compagnie Financière Belge des Pétroles (Petrofina), together with Fernand and Hector Carlier. He held ministerial office regularly in the period from 1911 to 1926, beginning as Agriculture and Public works minister (1911–1912), then moving to Railways and Posts (1912–1914), Finance (1914–1918), Economic affairs (1920–1924), and returning to Agriculture (1925–1926). He was named an honorary minister of State in 1918. Becoming the prime minister of Belgium in 1925, he presided over a party and cabinet in crisis, and his government fell after only a month. He left politics in 1926, working in business. He died in Paris in 1961.

Honours