Gaspard Théodore Ignace de la Fontaine: Loyal Servant of the House of Orange and Conservative Liberal Leader

Born in 1787, this trained jurist and professional politician became a member of the Dutch provincial estates in 1816 at the age of 29. At the outbreak of the Belgian Revolution, de la Fontaine aligns himself with William I and becomes a member of the governmental commission of the city of Luxembourg. His political engagement alongside the House of Orange is rewarded, as he becomes the governor of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg from 1841 to 1848. In this capacity, he also presides over the constituent assembly from April 25 to June 23, 1848. With the entry into force of the new constitution on August 1, 1848, de la Fontaine becomes the first Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy, a position he will retain after the parliamentary elections of September 28, 1848. The de la Fontaine government will fall in the autumn of 1848 due to the naturalization law, and he will request his resignation on November 9, 1848. The economic liberals around Norbert Metz, who associate the politician with the old regime, and the Catholic party, which does not forgive him for his stance against the apostolic vicar, play a decisive role in the sidelining of de la Fontaine.