Given the question: Facts: - death place: deinze , belgium - successor: henri boel - party: people 's union - death date: 11 november 2005 - predecessor: jan bascour - office: speaker of parliament of flanders - term end: 24 april 1979 - term start: 14 june 1977 - birth date: 14 may 1920 - name: maurits coppieters - image: mauricecop675.jpg - birth place: sint-niklaas , belgium Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of maurits coppieters .
The answer is:
maurits coppieters -lrb- 14 may 1920 -- 11 november 2005 -rrb- , flemish politician for the volksunie , member of the belgian chamber -lrb- 1965 -- 71 -rrb- , the belgian senate -lrb- 1971 -- 1979 -rrb- and the european parliament -lrb- 1979 -- 81 -rrb- .the fleming maurits coppieters studied history and later became a doctor of laws and obtained a master 's degree in east european studies .during the second world war , he refused to work for the german occupier .after many years as a teacher , he worked as a lawyer for a while .he was one of the people who re-established the vlaamse volksbeweging -lrb- flemish people 's movement -rrb- , of which he was the president from 1957-1963 .coppieters ' political career began when he became a member of the volksunie -lrb- vu -rrb- which was formed in 1954 .with the exception of two years , coppieters was a member of the town council during the period between 1964 and 1983 .he was also elected as a member of the chamber -lrb- 1965 -- 1971 -rrb- and as a member of the senate -lrb- 1971 -- 1979 -rrb- .at the same time , coppieters was the president of the vu in the newly formed '' cultuurraad voor de nederlandstalige cultuurgemeenschap '' -lrb- cultural council for the dutch-speaking community , later the flemish parliament -rrb- , of which he became the president when the vu formed part of the government .in 1979 , coppieters was elected during the first direct elections of the european parliament .as a regionalist , he became a member of the group for technical coordination and defence of independent groupings and members in the european parliament -lrb- tcdi -rrb- .among other things , he made a name for himself when he championed the cause of the corsicans .in the meantime , coppieters also played a pioneering role in the formation of the european free alliance , of which he became the honorary president and in whose expansion he continued to play a role , even after he said farewell to active politics in 1981 .in that year , jaak vandemeulebroucke...