Alexandre Galopin

Alexandre Galopin, born on 26 September 1879 in Ghent and assassinated at his home in Etterbeek on 28 February 1944, had been governor of the Société Générale de Belgique, since March 1935, a major Belgian company, and chairman of the board of the motor and armaments company Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre (FN).

He is regarded as a prominent figure of Belgian business leadership in the first half of the 20th century.

A civil engineer by training, and head of the general management of the “Fabrique Nationale” (FN) in Herstal (Liège) before 1914, he plays a crucial role in Paris during the First World War, in the standardized production of armaments—chiefly rifles—for the French and Belgian armies.

As an economic adviser to the Belgian government at the end of the war, he takes part in preparing and implementing the policy for reviving Belgian industry after 1918.

In 1919, he is among the Belgian experts involved in the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles, which brings an end to the First World War. He represents the Belgian central bank at the “Banque des Règlements Internationaux” (BRI), established in 1930 in Basel.

Galopin is renowned for his role during the Second World War as head of the “Comité Galopin”, entrusted on 15 May 1940 with a “mission of confidence” by the Belgian government shortly before its departure for England. In this capacity, he plays a central part in shaping the economic and financial policy of occupied Belgium in the face of the Nazi regime.

In February 1944, Governor Galopin is assassinated at the request of Himmler, head of the SS.

After 1945, the decisions taken by Alexandre Galopin and his circle under Nazi occupation become the subject of judicial and historiographical debate.