Léon Kauffman

Who was Léon Kauffman?

Léon Kauffman was a Luxembourgish politician. He was the 12th Prime Minister of Luxembourg, serving for one year, from June 19, 1917 until September 28, 1918.

After studying law, in 1893 Kauffman was appointed an Attaché of the Parquet Général, and then was a justice of the peace in Echternach from 1898 to 1900. Then he was a senior civil servant from 1902 to 1910. In 1910 he became director of the tax administration and president of the Assurances sociales. In 1916 he became Director-General of Finance, until 1918. In 1917 there was a crisis within the Thorn Ministry, as the Chamber of Deputies had withdrawn confidence from agriculture minister Michel Welter.

On 19 June 1917 Kauffman put together a Right-Liberal government, in which he was prime minister, as well as the Foreign and Finance Minister. Under this government, changes to the constitution were put into motion which were to introduce universal suffrage. There were disagreements, however, as the government refused, as the Chamber demanded, to establish the oirigins of sovereign power "in the nation," instead of "in the person of the Grand Duke", as hitherto.