| Charles Joseph Marie d'Ursel | |
| Order1: | President of the Senate |
| Term Start1: | 1899 |
| Term End1: | 1903 |
| Monarch1: | Leopold II |
| Successor1: | Henri, Count de Merode |
| Office2: | Duke of Ursel |
| Successor2: | Robert, 7th Duke d'Ursel |
| Term Start2: | 1878 |
| Term End2: | 1903 |
Charles Joseph Marie,[1] 6th Duke d'Ursel (Brussels, July 3, 1848 – Strombeek-Bever, November 15, 1903), was a Belgian politician.
Joseph, Count d'Ursel was the second son of Léon, 5th Duke d'Ursel (1805–1878)[2] and his second wife, Henriette d'Harcourt. Joseph's elder brother died before inheriting the title, and Joseph became the 6th Duke of Ursel on the death of his father.
In 1872, Joseph married his niece, Antonine de Mun (1849–1931), daughter of the Marquess de Mun. She was a sister of Count Albert de Mun and born in Paris. In Belgium, she became a respected artist in aristocratic circles.
She studied in the atelier of Charles Joshua Chaplin and painted many portraits of family members and members of the Belgian royal family. A year before her death, she was honoured in her own right by the Belgian King: she was rewarded and became a Dame in the Order of Leopold. Recently, she was honoured with the production of an exclusive beer, the Cuvee Antonine, and the artworks on the bottle are of the duchess.[3] [4]
He was a provincial councilor, then governor of the province of Hainaut (1878) and mayor of Hingene (1878–1903). He was Governor of Hainaut during the strikes of 1886. Impressed by these events, he became, like his brother-in-law Albert de Mun, more aware of social issues. He wrote a pamphlet in 1895, basing his ideas on Frederic Le Play.
When he reached the required age, he entered the Belgian Senate. He was the president of the Senate when he died prematurely.