Fernand Marie Gustave Edmond Lepage was born in Grammont on 16 December 1905 and died in Brussels on 16 february 1996. Born into a modest family, Lepage completed his primary studies in Grammont before being forced to take refuge in England to escape the First World War.. He completed his primary school years there and began his secondary education., that he finishes in Belgium once peace is restored.
He began studying law at the Free University of Brussels., from which he emerges a doctor in 1929. He then began a career as a lawyer as an intern with Léon Hayoit de Termicourt at the Brussels Bar., in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe. In 1933, he is appointed as a substitute for the additional Crown prosecutor at the Court of First Instance of Brussels, where he replaces Guillaume Huybrechts. In 1936, he is promoted to deputy of the King's prosecutor at the Court of First Instance of Brussels; prosecutor's office which was at the time headed by Walter Ganshof Van der Meersch. He left this position in 1939, at the time when he was appointed substitute for the military auditor in matters of repression of attacks on the external security of the Belgian State.
At the same time, Lepage founds a home and marries Marie-Joseph Brocorens in Grammont, the 27 february 1934. The couple moved to Brussels in the first half of the years 30 and gave birth to three children.
in mai 1940, the family flees the conflict and takes refuge in France. Eventually, Lepage and his family will follow the government to England, where they land 5 november 1940. Very quickly, Lepage proposes to Belgian Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot to reestablish State Security, de facto dismantled by the arrest of its main leaders (Ganshof Van der Meersch et Robert de Foy) following the German invasion. The aim of this institution would be to feel the pulse of the occupied country by establishing radio links between the territory and the government., as well as coordinating the action of resistance networks. Fernand Lepage is appointed interim administrator of this intelligence network which must be helped to rebuild. Given the absence of Walter Ganshof Van der Meersch, Fernand Lepage is also entrusted with the position of General Auditor. The Belgian magistrate therefore combines these two positions with very high responsibility for a temporary period..
In July 1943, Walter Ganshof Van der Meersch arrives in England and takes the helm of a new institution, the High Commission for State Security, attached to the Ministry of Defense. Ganshof Van der Meersch therefore takes over the position of Auditor General in Lepage, while since June 1943 the General Directorate of Intelligence and Action is created, directed by William Ugeux who, even if he places himself de facto under the authority of Lepage, still restricts the prerogatives.
Belgium being liberated in the last months of November 1944, the government and institutions created in England are slowly heading back. This will be the case for State Security, but without Fernand Lepage, who resigned at the same time. He will be replaced by Paul Bihin.
However, this resignation does not mark the end of Fernand Lepage’s career, who later became advocate general of the Court of Appeal of Ghent, then state councilor in 1947. He will climb the ranks of this institution until becoming president in January 1967 then first president in 1971. He attained emeritus status on 16 December 1974.
Alongside this very busy professional career, Fernand Lepage will also be appointed President of the Hubert Pierlot Foundation, of the National Work of Veterans and the Society of the Order of Leopold in particular, post which he will leave in 1995, a few months before his death.
Sources:
- Emmanuel DEBRUYNE, The secret war of Belgian spies : 1940-1944, Brussels, 2008.
- Marc COOLS, Koenraad BADGER, Robin LIBERT, Safety : essays on 175 years of State Security, Brussels, 2005.
- " The resistance ", Interview with Baron Fernand Lepage, 20 june 1983, CEGESOMA, AA 2268/443.
- Oscar COOMANS de BRACHENE, Present state of the Belgian nobility. Directory of 1992, vol. 2, Brussels, 1993.
- Journal des Tribunaux, n°5799, Brussels, 1996, p. 330.
Vincent Gabriel
Notice written as part of the Seminar on the History of the Contemporary Period of the Catholic University of Louvain (LHIST2280, teacher Emmanuel Debruyne).