Jean Bernard (13 August 1907 – 1 September 1994) was a Catholic priest from Luxembourg who was imprisoned from May 1941 to August 1942 in the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau. He was released for nine days in February 1942 and allowed to return to Luxembourg, an episode which he later wrote about in his memoirs of the camp and which was turned into a film.
Dr. Michel Welter (21 March 1859, Heiderscheid – 22 April 1924) was a Luxembourgish politician, and former leader of the Socialist Party. A member of Luxembourg's Chamber of Deputies, he served as the Director-General for Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry from 24 February 1916 until 3 January 1917, during the German occupation.He was one of the fiercest defenders of Victor Thorn's National Union Government. Poorly implemented policies designed to avoid a food shortage back-fired, and the country only narrowly averted a famine. Welter, as the minister responsible for both agriculture and commerce, was held responsible; on 22 December, Welter was censured by the Chamber of Deputies. Although Thorn sought to avoid firing Welter, he was left with no choice, and replaced him with Ernest Leclère.
Born on 21 March 1859 in Heiderscheid to a family of modest means, he studied at several European universities, before settling in Esch-Alzette as a doctor. His work as a physician brought him into contact with the miners and railway workers there, and it was their poor living and working conditions which drove him to take up politics. He campaigned for women's right to vote, paid holidays, social security and decent housing for workers.In 1896 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time, where his social campaigning soon earned him the nickname "de rouden Dokter" (= "the red doctor"). Yet Welter, seen as a radical by the middle-class Deputies, was criticised by the workers for his own middle-class background.In 1902, Welter moved to Luxembourg city, where he co-founded the Social-Democratic Party. He was Luxembourg's delegate at the Second International and came into contact with Jean Jaurès, Clara Zetkin and August Bebel.From 1896 to 1897 he wrote for the Escher Courrier, then for the Patriot, the Escher Volksblatt, the Escher Journal, and the Frankfurter Zeitung. From 1913 to 1916 he edited the Tageblatt. Throughout his career, he got into several fights with the conservative Luxemburger Wort.In the debate over the Education Law of 1912 he campaigned for a strict separation of church and state. In 1916 he was appointed to the Thorn government, as minister for agriculture, commerce, and industry. His time as a member of the government was brief and difficult. He was accused of having made an agreement with the German occupiers to allow the import of badly needed food supplies into Luxembourg. Such an agreement was impossible due to Luxembourg's neutral status. He was dismissed from the government on 2 January 1917 and became director of the medical section of the spa in Mondorf.
Towards the end of the war he was a member of the Luxembourgish Soviet, which called for the nationalisation of the iron industry, the introduction of the 8-hour day, the abdication of the Grand Duchess and the establishment of a republic. The question over the dynasty and the form of government was decided in the 1919 referendum; the same year saw the introduction of women's suffrage. Welter joined the Chamber of Deputies again in 1920, but was not re-elected in 1922.Two years later, he died of a stroke, in 1924.
The city of Esch dedicated a monument to him on 21 August 1927 in the park on the Galgenberg, with the inscription: À l'ami du peuple - la classe ouvrière reconnaissante ("To the friend of the people - the grateful working class").
Norbert Jacques (6 June 1880 – 15 May 1954) was a Luxembourgish novelist, journalist, screenwriter, and translator who wrote in German. He was born in Luxembourg-Eich, Luxembourg and died in Koblenz, West Germany. He created the character Dr. Mabuse, who was a feature of some of his novels. Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler, the first novel to feature Mabuse, was one of the bestsellers of its time; it sold over 500,000 copies in Germany. Today, Jacques is known best for Dr. Mabuse. In 1922, he received German citizenship.
Pierre Grégoire (9 November 1907 – 8 April 1991) was a Luxembourgish politician in the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), journalist, and writer. Before turning to politics full-time, he wrote for the Luxemburger Wort newspaper.
Before World War II, he organised the development of the CSV's precursor, the Party of the Right, along with Jean Baptiste Esch. He was a CSV Deputy from 1946 onwards, and was the party's secretary-general from 1952 to 1960. He was a member of the Council of Europe from 1956.
He also held several government posts: he was the minister for the Interior, Religion, Arts and Sciences and Transport from 1959 to 1964, then became minister for Cultural Affairs, Education and the Civil Service from 1964 onwards. From 1969 to 1974 he was the president of the Chamber of Deputies.
Batty (Jean-Baptiste) Weber (1860–1940) is considered to have been one of Luxembourg's most influential journalists and authors, contributing much to the development of the country's national identity. His style is characterized by his sense of humour and skillful use of irony.
Johannes Olav Fallize, Ph.D., D.Th. (9 November 1844, Bettelange, Luxembourg, Belgium – 23 October 1933, Luxembourg, Luxembourg), was the first Roman Catholic bishop in Norway since the Reformation. As the head of the Catholic Church of Norway for 35 years, he was the Prefect Apostolic of Norway from 1887 to 1892 and the Vicar Apostolic of Norway from 1892 to 1922.