Camille Gutt

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Economist, industrialist, politician (1884-1971)

title: "Camille Gutt" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1884-births", "1971-deaths", "belgian-economists", "20th-century-belgian-lawyers", "belgian-people-of-world-war-ii", "ministers-of-state-of-belgium", "ministers-of-finance-of-belgium", "free-university-of-brussels-(1834–1969)-alumni", "managing-directors-of-the-international-monetary-fund", "members-of-the-belgian-government-in-exile", "politicians-from-brussels", "belgian-officials-of-the-united-nations", "belgian-protestants", "belgian-people-of-austrian-descent", "belgian-people-of-jewish-descent"] description: "Economist, industrialist, politician (1884-1971)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camille_Gutt" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Economist, industrialist, politician (1884-1971) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

FieldValue
nameCamille Gutt
image[[File:Camille Gutt.jpg
captionGutt in 1944
officeManaging Director of the
International Monetary Fund
term_start6 May 1946
term_end5 May 1951
predecessorOffice established
successorIvar Rooth
birth_date
birth_placeBrussels, Belgium
death_date
death_placeBrussels, Belgium
birthnameCamille Guttenstein
nationalityBelgian
alma_materUniversité libre de Bruxelles
profession
::

| name = Camille Gutt | image = [[File:Camille Gutt.jpg|250px]] | caption = Gutt in 1944 | office = Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund | term_start = 6 May 1946 | term_end = 5 May 1951 | predecessor = Office established | successor = Ivar Rooth | birth_date = | birth_place = Brussels, Belgium | death_date = | death_place = Brussels, Belgium | birthname = Camille Guttenstein | nationality = Belgian | alma_mater = Université libre de Bruxelles | profession = | signature = Camille Gutt (14 November 1884 – 7 June 1971), born Camille Guttenstein, was a Belgian economist, politician, and industrialist who served as the first managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1946 to 1951. He was the architect of a monetary reform plan that facilitated the recovery of the economy of Belgium after the Second World War.

Early life

Born in Brussels, he was a son of Max Guttenstein and Marie-Paule Schweitzer. Max Guttenstein had moved to Belgium from Austria-Hungary in 1877 and became a Belgian citizen in 1886. Camille Gutt attended high school at the Royal Athenaeum in Ixelles. Gutt obtained a PhD in legal studies, and a master's degree in political and social sciences at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). During his study, he met Claire Frick, whom he married in 1906. The marriage gave birth to three sons: Jean-Max (1914–1941), François (1916–1944) and Etienne (1922–2011). Gutt was Protestant, although from Jewish origin.

Career

Camille Gutt worked in various industries, such as in the Société Générale de Belgique and Groupe Empain as well as politics. During World War I, Gutt worked for Georges Theunis and again from 1920 until 1924 as his Chief of Cabinet. Later, Gutt also worked for Emile Francqui. Camille Gutt was Minister of Finance of Belgium in 1934–1935 and 1939–1940, Minister of Finance, Economics and Traffic in 1940–1942, Minister of Finance and economics in 1942–1943, and Minister of Finance in 1943–1944 in the Belgian government in exile in London.

Gutt was responsible for saving the Belgian franc before and after World War II. Before the war, he saved the Belgian currency by secretly transferring the gold reserves of the Belgian National Bank out of Nazi reach. After the war, he stabilized the Belgian franc and forestalled inflation, with what still is known as the **. Camille Gutt also played a major role in forging the Benelux, and by this contributed to the formation of the European Union. He was the inaugural Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund from 1946 to 1951, after which he was a partner at the Banque Lambert until his retirement in 1964.

Honours

Selected publications

  • .
  • .

References

References

  1. link. (6 July 2011)
  2. link. (3 December 2008)
  3. [[Éliane Gubin]]. (2006). "Dictionnaire des femmes belges: XIXe et XXe siècles". Lannoo Uitgeverij.
  4. "The Participation of Jews in the Allied Armies".
  5. Hunton{{!}}CNBC.com, Ed. (27 June 2011). "Top of the World: Former IMF Chiefs".
  6. Anne-Myriam Dutrieue. (2010). "Le baron Léon Lambert, un banquier et financier belge d'envergure internationale du XXe siècle".
  7. Recueil Des Cours, Collected Courses, 1948, Volume 72.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1884-births1971-deathsbelgian-economists20th-century-belgian-lawyersbelgian-people-of-world-war-iiministers-of-state-of-belgiumministers-of-finance-of-belgiumfree-university-of-brussels-(1834–1969)-alumnimanaging-directors-of-the-international-monetary-fundmembers-of-the-belgian-government-in-exilepoliticians-from-brusselsbelgian-officials-of-the-united-nationsbelgian-protestantsbelgian-people-of-austrian-descentbelgian-people-of-jewish-descent