Charles, Count Woeste was a Belgian Roman Catholic politician of German descent.

He was born in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, the son of Edouard Woeste, who was of Prussian descent and who became a naturalized Belgian on 15 January 1841. Edouard Woeste was consul for Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

 from 1843 to 1853, and married Constance Vauthier on 24 September 1834. In August 1855 Charles converted form Protestantism

Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

 to Catholicism, under the influence of his mother and father Delcourt. On 4 January 1866 he married Marie Greindl, daughter of lieutenant-general Greindl, who had been minister of war in De Decker government of 1855.

Education

In October 1837, Charles joined the Royal Athenaeum of Brussels. Among his classmates were Edmond Picard

Edmond Picard

Edmond Picard Edmond Picard Edmond Picard (15 December 1836, Brussels – 19 February 1924, Dåve (now Namur) was a Belgian jurist and writer.Edmond Picard was lawyer at the Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation of Belgium. He was also head of the Belgian bar association, professor of law,...

, Charles Graux

Charles Graux

Charles Alexandre Louis Graux was a Belgian lawyer, professor at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, an authority on stichometry and liberal politician....

, Emile de Mot

Emile de Mot

Emile André Jean de Mot was a Belgian liberal politician and burgomaster of Brussels.He was a lawyer and became alderman and burgomaster of Brussels . He was also a member of parliament....

, Xavier Olin, and Pierre Van Humbeeck

Pierre Van Humbeeck

Pierre Edouard Van Humbeeck was a Belgian lawyer and liberal politician. He was a member of the city council of Brussels, the Belgian parliament and minister.He was the first Belgian minister of education....

. He obtained the title of Doctor in Law at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles

Université Libre de Bruxelles

The Université libre de Bruxelles is a French-speaking university in Brussels, Belgium. It has 21,000 students, 29% of whom come from abroad, and an equally cosmopolitan staff.-Name:...

 in 1858.

Career

He began his career as a lawyer at the bar of Brussels. His political career developed within the Catholic Party

Catholic Party (Belgium)

The first Catholic Party in Belgium was established in 1869 as the Confessional Catholic Party .-History:In 1852 a Union Constitutionelle et Conservatrice was founded in Ghent, in Leuven , and in Antwerp and Brussels in 1858, which were active only during elections...

 and he played a very important role in this party. He started his political career at the Catholic Conference in Mechelen

Mechelen

Mechelen Footnote: Mechelen became known in English as 'Mechlin' from which the adjective 'Mechlinian' is derived...

 in 1846. In 1869, Woeste founded the Verbond van Katholieke Kringen, an early attempt to create a Catholic party. In 1921, this party was renamed in the Catholic Union of workers, citizens, tradesmen and farmers. After his death, on the occasion of the large election defeat of the Catholics in 1936 this Catholic Union was replaced by the Catholic Block.

During his political career Woeste was a longtime member of the Belgian parliament for the district Aalst

Aalst, Belgium

Aalst is a city and municipality on the Dender River, 19 miles northwest from Brussels. It is located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Aalst itself and the villages of Baardegem, Erembodegem, Gijzegem, Herdersem, Hofstade,...

, after earlier attempts in the district Bruges

Bruges

Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....

 had failed. At Aalst he met with Earl Bobbejaan Honoré (1846–1933) and he opposed the Christian Democratic priest Adolf Daens

Adolf Daens

Adolf Daens was a Flemish priest from Aalst. Daens was a Jesuit from 1859 to 1871 but is especially known for his socio-political involvement after he joined the diocesan clergy. He created the Daensist movement from which originated in 1893 the Christene Volkspartij inspired by Leo XIII's...

 and his Christene Volkspartij

Christene Volkspartij

The Christene Volkspartij was the first Belgian Christian democratic political party. The party was founded in 1891 by the Belgian priest Adolf Daens, who was inspired by the papal encyclical Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIII....

. Woeste strongly opposed the rising social state interventionism of the Christian Democrats

Christian Democracy

Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...

.

Charles Woeste spent the rest of his life in Brussels, and a street in the city is named after him.

Sources

• Charles Woeste (French)