Wilfried Achiel Emma Martens (; 19 April 1936 – 9 October 2013) was a Belgian politician who served as prime minister of Belgium from 1979 to 1992, except from April to December 1981. A member of the Flemish Christian People's Party, during his premiership he oversaw the transformation of Belgium into a federal state. He was one of the founders of the European People's Party.

During his time as prime minister, Martens led a series of centre-right and centre-left cabinets.

Early life

Martens was born on 19 April 1936 in the village of Sleidinge, East Flanders, the son of modest small farmers. at his home in Lokeren; he was 77. Elio Di Rupo, the Belgian prime minister, described him as a "true statesman and one of the fathers of federal Belgium".

Honours

  • :
  • Minister of State, by Royal Decree.
  • Grand officer in the Order of Leopold
  • Grand Cross in the Order of Leopold II
  • Grand Cross in the Order of the Crown

Foreign honours

  • :Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold, Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (30 May 1985)
  • :
  • Knight Grand Cross in the National Order of Merit (28 February 1983)
  • Grand Officer in the Legion of Honour.
  • : Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (7 February 1984)
  • : Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Phoenix
  • : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon (16 October 1979)
  • : Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (20 February 1986)
  • :"Banda" of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (14 June 1985)
  • :
  • Grand Cross of the Order of Christ (10 December 1982)
  • Grand Cross in the Order of Prince Henry (31 October 1987)
  • :Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

See also

  • Pierre Carette
  • Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies

Publications

thumb|On 10 September 2009, Wilfried Martens presented his book Europe: I Struggle, I Overcome in a public event organized by the [[Centre for European Studies (think tank)|Centre for European Studies (CES), the official think-tank of the European People's Party.]]

  • Een gegeven woord, Lannoo, Tielt, 1985.
  • Europa voorbij Oost en West, Lannoo, Tielt, 1995.
  • De Memoires, Luctor et Emergo, Lannoo, Tielt, 2006.
  • Europe: I Struggle, I Overcome, Springer Science+Business Media, 2009.

References

Further reading

  • Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 306–13.
  • epp.eu
  • Wilfried Martens in ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures

|-

|-

|-

|-

<!-- Honours -->