René Boël

Nationality

Belgium

Date of Birth

1899

Date of Death

1990

Political
Preference

René Boël studied civil engineering, with a qualification in mining technology. A Belgian industrialist and business man in a steel dynasty, Boël became director at UCB and Solvay. In 1930, at the age of 31, Boël travelled to America to meet with representatives of major banks and industries to cultivate new alliances. Boël had created a group of allies, including John Foster Dulles and the president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. Based in London, Boël assisted the minister of Finance of the Belgian government-in-exile Camille Gutt in trade and industrial agreements between the Allies and Belgium. As a military officer, Boël responded to the call of duty in May 1940 when German troops arrived Belgium border. He established a liaison between Brussels and the Anglo-French Coordinating Committee, which was headed by an old acquaintance and legal counsel, Jean Monnet. Boël was also involved in the Comité interallié pour étude d’armistice, in which European governments studied the post-war economic problems that would arise after the liberation. Here he mingled with influential economic experts such as Robert Marjolin and Hervé Alphand.

Boël was the first President of the Belgian-American Association, and chaired, between 1950 and 1981, the European League for Economic Cooperation (ELEC), which had been founded by Joseph Retinger. In his role as president of ELEC, Boël steered committees that examined monetary conditions for a European common market.