Jacquemotte, Joseph

Born Apr. 22, 1883, in Brussels; died Oct. 11, 1936, in Liege. A figure in the Belgian workers’ and communist movement.

In 1899, Jacquemotte graduated from a military school and served for some time in the army. From 1906 to 1921, he was a member of the Belgian Workers’ Party. From 1910 to 1914, he led a series of strikes and headed the revolutionary opposition within the reformist trade unions. In 1912 and 1923, Jacquemotte was arrested. In 1919, he became a member of the Bureau of the General Council of the Belgian Workers’ Party. He was head of the party’s left wing, a group known as the “Friends of the Exploited.” In 1921 this group was expelled from the Belgian Workers’ Party and, together with other revolutionary groups, formed the Communist Party of Belgium. At that time, Jacquemotte was elected a member of the Central Committee of the party. In 1931 he became a member of the Politburo of the Belgian Communist Party, and in 1934 he became its general secretary. He participated in the third to the seventh congresses of the Comintern. In 1935 he was elected a candidate member of the Executive Committee of the Comintern. Jacquemotte was elected a deputy to Parliament in 1925, 1932, and 1936.