The Christian Democrat Miet Smet left her mark on Belgian politics in the 1980s and 1990s. She was, among other things, State Secretary for the Environment and Equal Opportunities and Minister of Labor and Employment.
Smet also founded Vrouw & Maatschappij, the women’s movement of CD&V. She is known as one of the icons of women’s emancipation in Belgium and a campaigner for equal opportunities.
Miet Smet was born on April 5, 1943 in Sint-Niklaas. In 2008, the politician married former Prime Minister Wilfried Martens. He died in 2013. Smet died last night in a residential care center in Destelbergen.
Bio
Miet Smet grew up as the daughter of CVP senator Albert Smet. After studying social work, she started working at the study group ‘People and Space’ and in 1971 she was one of the founders of the Bond Beter Leefmilieu. At the request of her father, she also became a member of the CVP youth in the 1960s. (Read more below the photo)
© Geert Van de Velde
After holding various posts in the Christian People’s Party, Smet entered the Chamber of Representatives in 1978, where she remained seated until May 1995. From 1980 to 1995 she was also a member of the Flemish Council, the successor to the Cultural Council and the predecessor of the current Flemish Parliament.
From 1985 to 1992, Smet was State Secretary for the Environment and Social Emancipation in four successive Martens governments, a position in which she developed, among other things, a policy on equal opportunities between men and women, refugee reception and poverty. Between 1992 and 1999 she was Minister of Labor and Employment in the Dehaene I and II governments. In the 1999 elections she – and not her later husband Wilfriend Martens – came first on the European list and from 1999 to 2004 she was a member of the European Parliament.
In 2002, Smet was given the title of Minister of State and between 2004 and 2009 she would sit in the Flemish Parliament.
On September 27, 2008 she married fellow CVP leader Wilfried Martens. He died on October 9, 2013. Her memoirs ‘I only look forward’ were published in 2017 by Lannoo publishers. (Read more below the photos)
Wilfried Martens and Miet Smet in 2008. — © Geert Van de Velde
Miet Smet in 2016, at the unveiling of a statue for her husband Wilfried Martens, who died in 2013. — © BELGIUM
CD&V chairman Sammy Mahdi: “Our country is losing a real Grande Dame”
© BELGIUM
With Miet Smet “our country loses a real ‘Grande Dame’”. This is how CD&V chairman Sammy Mahdi responds to the death of the minister of state. “In the macho world of many decades ago, she fearlessly stood on the barricades for women’s rights and more equality between men and women.”
According to CD&V chairman Sammy Mahdi, it is “no exaggeration to say that Miet is the greatest feminist our country has ever known.” “Miet has inspired an incredible number of people, including myself. Her unparalleled commitment, her passion and her knowledge of the dossier deserve nothing but admiration and the utmost respect. Her legacy cannot be overstated. On behalf of the entire Christian Democratic family, I wish the family all the strength in these difficult days.”
