Beernaert, Auguste

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Auguste Beernaert (ōgüst´ bârnärt´, bâr´närt), 1829–1912, Belgian statesman. A member of the liberal wing of the Catholic party, he served in several cabinets and was prime minister from 1884 to 1894. Beernaert promoted electoral reform and legislation to improve labor conditions. He was a delegate to the Hague Peace conferences (1899, 1907), and he shared the 1909 Nobel Peace Prize with Estournelles de Constant.