Van Glabbeke was born on 8 August 1904 in Ostend, West Flanders, Belgium to sea Captain Gustave Alexandre Van Glabbeke and Angèle Ernestine Huyghe. He studied law at the Université libre de Bruxelles and graduated with a degree in maritime law and financial science. He also studied at Princeton University thanks to a scholarship before beginning his career as a lawyer in 1929.[2]
Van Glabbeke achieved his first ministry appointment in the Government of Prime MinisterAchille Van Acker, and was appointed Minister of the Interior on 12 February 1945. He held the position until March 1946 when he was instead appointed as Minister of Justice until the appointment of the next Government in August 1946. Van Glabbeke would find work in the Government again in 1949, when he was appointed Minister of Public Health by Prime Minister Gaston Eyskens. He held the position until 1950 and was elected as a city council member in Ostend two years later. That same year, Van Glabbeke served as an Alderman in Ostend until his election as Mayor of Ostend in 1953. Van Glabbeke would end up holding one more ministry position as he was appointed Secretary of State of Public Works [nl] by Prime Minister Achille Van Acker in 1954, however Van Glabbeke resigned from the post the next year due to allegations of favouring his in-laws in state assignments.[4]
