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National Capitol Columns at the United States National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.

Marble columns with antique capitals in the Great Mosque of Kairouan also known as the Mosque of Uqba, city of Kairouan, Tunisia

A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is an structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces. Other compression members are often termed "columns" because of the similar stress conditions. Columns are frequently used to support beams or arches on which the upper parts of walls or ceilings rest. In architecture, "column" refers to such a structural element that also has certain proportional and decorative features. A column might also be a decorative element not needed for structural purposes; many columns are "engaged with", that is to say form part of a wall.

History[link]

All significant Iron Age civilizations of the Near East and Mediterranean made some use of columns. In Ancient Egyptian architecture as early as 2600 BC the architect Imhotep made use of stone columns whose surface was carved to reflect the organic form of bundled reeds; in later Egyptian architecture faceted cylinders were also common.

Plan, Front view and side view of a typical Persepolis column, of Persia (Iran).

Some of the most elaborate columns in the ancient world were those of the Persians, especially the massive stone columns erected in Persepolis. They included double-bull structures in their capitals. The Hall of Hundred Columns at Persepolis, measuring 70 × 70 metres, was built by the Achaemenid king Darius I (524–486 BC). Many of the ancient Persian columns are standing, some being more than 30 metres tall.^{[citation needed]}

Illustration of Doric (first three), Ionic (next three) and Corinthian (final two) columns.

Columns found at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi

The Egyptians, Persians and other civilizations mostly used columns for the practical purpose of holding up the roof inside a building, preferring outside walls to be decorated with reliefs or painting, but the Ancient Greeks, followed by the Romans, loved to use them on the outside as well, and the extensive use of columns on the interior and exterior of buildings is one of the most characteristic features of classical architecture, in buildings like the Parthenon. The Greeks developed the classical orders of architecture, which are most easily distinguished by the form of the column and its various elements. Their Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders were expanded by the Romans to include the Tuscan and Composite orders (see below).

Columns, or at least large structural exterior ones, became much less significant in the architecture of the Middle Ages, and the classical forms were abandoned in both Byzantine architecture and the Romanesque and Gothic architecture or Europe in favour of more flexible forms, with capitals often using various types of foliage decoration, and in the West scenes with figures carved in relief. Renaissance architecture was keen to revive the classical vocabulary and styles, and the informed use and variation of the classical orders remained fundamental to the training of architects throughout Baroque, Rococo and Neo-classical architecture.

Structure[link]

Modern column grid in a car park

Early columns were constructed of stone, some out of a single piece of stone. Monolithic columns are among the heaviest stones used in architecture. Other stone columns are created out of multiple sections of stone, mortared or dry-fit together. In many classical sites, sectioned columns were carved with a centre hole or depression so that they could be pegged together, using stone or metal pins. The design of most classical columns incorporates entasis (the inclusion of a slight outward curve in the sides) plus a reduction in diameter along the height of the column, so that the top is as little as 83% of the bottom diameter. This reduction mimics the parallax effects which the eye expects to see, and tends to make columns look taller and straighter than they are while entasis adds to that effect.

Nomenclature[link]

Classical columns have a bottom or plinth that rests on the stylobate or foundation. At the top a capital (also known as a chapiter) or finial decorate the column, depending on whether it is attached to a structure or free-standing.

Modern columns are constructed out of steel, poured or precast concrete, or brick. They may then be clad in an architectural covering (or veneer), or left bare. In modern terms the impost (or pier) is the topmost member of a column. The bottom-most part of the arch, called the springing, rests on the impost.

Equilibrium, instability, and loads[link]

These are composed of stacked segments and finished in the Corinthian style (Temple of Bel, Syria)

As the axial load on a perfectly straight slender column with elastic material properties is increased in magnitude, this ideal column passes through three states: stable equilibrium, neutral equilibrium, and instability. The straight column under load is in stable equilibrium if a lateral force, applied between the two ends of the column, produces a small lateral deflection which disappears and the column returns to its straight form when the lateral force is removed. If the column load is gradually increased, a condition is reached in which the straight form of equilibrium becomes so-called neutral equilibrium, and a small lateral force will produce a deflection that does not disappear and the column remains in this slightly bent form when the lateral force is removed. The load at which neutral equilibrium of a column is reached is called the critical or buckling load. The state of instability is reached when a slight increase of the column load causes uncontrollably growing lateral deflections leading to complete collapse.

For an axially loaded straight column with any end support conditions, the equation of static equilibrium, in the form of a differential equation, can be solved for the deflected shape and critical load of the column. With hinged, fixed or free end support conditions the deflected shape in neutral equilibrium of an initially straight column with uniform cross section throughout its length always follows a partial or composite sinusoidal curve shape, and the critical load is given by

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): f_{cr}\equiv\frac{\pi^2\textit{E}I_{min}}{{L}^2}\qquad (1)

where E = elastic modulus of the material, I_min = the minimal moment of inertia of the cross section, and L = actual length of the column between its two end supports. A variant of (1) is given by

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): f_{cr}\equiv\frac{\pi^{2}E_T}{(\frac{KL}{r})^{2}}\qquad (2)

Table showing values of K for structural columns of various end conditions (adapted from Manual of Steel Construction, 8th edition, American Institute of Steel Construction, Table C1.8.1)

where r = radius of gyration of [column]cross-section which is equal to the square root of (I/A), K = ratio of the longest half sine wave to the actual column length, and KL = effective length (length of an equivalent hinged-hinged column). From Equation (2) it can be noted that the buckling strength of a column is inversely proportional to the square of its length.

When the critical stress, F_cr (F_cr =P_cr/A, where A = cross-sectional area of the column), is greater than the proportional limit of the material, the column is experiencing inelastic buckling. Since at this stress the slope of the material's stress-strain curve, E_t (called the tangent modulus), is smaller than that below the proportional limit, the critical load at inelastic buckling is reduced. More complex formulas and procedures apply for such cases, but in its simplest form the critical buckling load formula is given as Equation (3),

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): f_{cr}\equiv{F_y}-\frac{F^{2}_{y}}{4\pi^{2}E}\left(\frac{KL}{r^2}\right)\qquad (3)

where E_t = tangent modulus at the stress F_cr

A column with a cross section that lacks symmetry may suffer torsional buckling (sudden twisting) before, or in combination with, lateral buckling. The presence of the twisting deformations renders both theoretical analyses and practical designs rather complex.

Eccentricity of the load, or imperfections such as initial crookedness, decreases column strength. If the axial load on the column is not concentric, that is, its line of action is not precisely coincident with the centroidal axis of the column, the column is characterized as eccentrically loaded. The eccentricity of the load, or an initial curvature, subjects the column to immediate bending. The increased stresses due to the combined axial-plus-flexural stresses result in a reduced load-carrying ability.

Column elements are considered to be massive if minimal side dimension is equal or more than 400 mm. Massive columns have ability to increase concrete strength during long time period (even during exploitation period). Taking into account possible loads onto structure increase in future (and even threat of progressive failure - terroristic attacks, explosions etc.) - massive columns have advantage comparing with not ones. A little economy today has no sense as usual for future. Moreover relatively small sections are not technological for reinforced structures during their production. Balance between economy, mass of structures and so called "sustainable" construction is necessary.

Extensions[link]

Construction of Sigismund's Column in Warsaw, detail of the 1646 engraving.

When a column is too long to be built or transported in one piece, it has to be extended or spliced at the construction site. A reinforced concrete column is extended by having the steel reinforcing bars protrude a few inches or feet above the top of the concrete, then placing the next level of reinforcing bars to overlap, and pouring the concrete of the next level. A steel column is extended by welding or bolting splice plates on the flanges and webs or walls of the columns to provide a few inches or feet of load transfer from the upper to the lower column section. A timber column is usually extended by the use of a steel tube or wrapped-around sheet-metal plate bolted onto the two connecting timber sections.

when e<12 then it is known as short column

Foundations[link]

A column that carries the load down to a foundation must have means to transfer the load without overstressing the foundation material. Reinforced concrete and masonry columns are generally built directly on top of concrete foundations. A steel column, when seated on a concrete foundation, must have a base plate to spread the load over a larger area and thereby reduce the bearing pressure. The base plate is a thick rectangular steel plate usually welded to the bottom end of the column.

Classical orders[link]

Church of San Prospero, Reggio Emilia, Italy

The Roman author Vitruvius, relying on the writings (now lost) of Greek authors, tells us that the ancient Greeks believed that their Doric order developed from techniques for building in wood in which the earlier smoothed tree trunk was replaced by a stone cylinder.

Doric order[link]

The Doric order is the oldest and simplest of the classical orders. It is composed of a vertical cylinder that is wider at the bottom. It generally has neither a base nor a detailed capital. It is instead often topped with an inverted frustum of a shallow cone or a cylindrical band of carvings. It is often referred to as the masculine order because it is represented in the bottom level of the Colosseum and the Parthenon, and was therefore considered to be able to hold more weight. The height-to-thickness ratio is about 8:1. The shaft of a Doric Column is always fluted.

The Greek Doric, developed in the western Dorian region of Greece, is the heaviest and most massive of the orders. It rises from the stylobate without any base; it is from four to six times as tall as its diameter; it has twenty broad flutes; the capital consists simply of a banded necking swelling out into a smooth echinus, which carries a flat square abacus; the Doric entablature is also the heaviest, being about one-fourth the height column. The Greek Doric order was not used after c. 100 B.C. until its “rediscovery” in the mid-eighteenth century.

Tuscan order[link]

The Tuscan order, also known as Roman Doric, is also a simple design, the base and capital both being series of cylindrical disks of alternating diameter. The shaft is almost never fluted. The proportions vary, but are generally similar to Doric columns. Height to width ratio is about 7:1.

Ionic order[link]

The Ionic column is considerably more complex than the Doric or Tuscan. It usually has a base and the shaft is often fluted (it has grooves carved up its length). On the top is a capital in the characteristic shape of a scroll, called a volute, or scroll, at the four corners. The height-to-thickness ratio is around 9:1. Due to the more refined proportions and scroll capitals, the Ionic column is sometimes associated with academic buildings. Ionic style columns were used on the second level of the Colosseum.

Ionic capital

Corinthian order[link]

The [Corinthian order] is named for the Greek city-state of Corinth, to which it was connected in the period. However, according to the architectural historian Vitruvius, the column was created by the sculptor Callimachus, probably an Athenian, who drew acanthus leaves growing around a votive basket. In fact, the oldest known Corinthian capital was found in Bassae, dated at 427 BC. It is sometimes called the feminine order because it is on the top level of the Colosseum and holding up the least weight, and also has the slenderest ratio of thickness to height. Height to width ratio is about 10:1.

Composite order[link]

The Composite order draws its name from the capital being a composite of the Ionic and Corinthian capitals. The acanthus of the Corinthian column already has a scroll-like element, so the distinction is sometimes subtle. Generally the Composite is similar to the Corinthian in proportion and employment, often in the upper tiers of colonnades. Height to width ratio is about 11:1 or 12:1.

Solomonic[link]

Two of Constantine's Solomonic columns in their present day location on a pier in St Peter's, Rome. Part of Bernini's Baldachin, inspired by the original columns, is in the foreground.

A Solomonic column, sometimes called "barley sugar", begins on a base and ends in a capital, which may be of any order, but the shaft twists in a tight spiral, producing a dramatic, serpentine effect of movement. Solomonic columns were developed in the ancient world, but remained rare there. A famous marble set, probably 2nd century, was brought to St Peter's, Rome by Constantine I, and placed round the saint's shrine, and was thus familiar throughout the Middle Ages, by which time they were thought to have been removed from the Temple of Jerusalem.^[1] The style was used in bronze by Bernini for his spectacular St. Peter's baldachin, actually a ciborium (which displaced Constantine's columns), and thereafter became very popular with Baroque and Rococo church architects, above all in Latin America, where they were very often used, especially on a small scale, as they are easy to produce in wood by turning on a lathe (hence also the style's popularity for spindles on furniture and stairs).

Notable columns[link]

• Alexander Column
• Ashoka Column
• Berlin victory column
• Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc
• Iron Column
• Monument to the Great Fire of London
• Nelson's Column
• Rostral Columns
• Saga Column
• San Jacinto Monument
• Sigismund's Column
• Trajan's Column
• Brock's Monument
• Trenton Battle Monument

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Column

• Buckling
• Capital
• Colonnade
• Entasis
• Huabiao
• Marian and Holy Trinity columns
• Persian column
• Pier (architecture)
• Pilaster
• Pole
• Spur (architecture)
• Stanchion

References[link]

Bill Maloney is a businessman and was the candidate for the Republican Party in the 2011 special election for governor of West Virginia, in which he lost.

Maloney co-founded a drilling company in 1984. He was involved in the Plan B rescue attempt during the 2010 Chilean mine disaster. Maloney has never held public office before. He lives in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Business career[link]

With a business partner, Maloney founded a company called North American Drillers in Morgantown in 1984. The company specialized in drilling large-diameter shafts for the coal, oil and natural gas industries. The business grew to 150 employees when Maloney sold his interest in 2006. Maloney has also invested in start-up companies.

Chilean mine rescue[link]

Maloney used his drilling expertise in support of the Plan B attempt to rescue the 33 trapped Chilean miners. Maloney joined the Center Rock team led by Brandon Fisher. Maloney had invested in Fisher's company as start-up. The Plan B effort was ultimately successful, and the miners were saved.^[1]

Since returning to the United States, Maloney founded the Mine Rescue Drilling Fund, which supports mine rescues efforts and mine rescue technology in the United States.

Campaign for West Virginia governor, 2011[link]

Maloney declared his campaign for governor in February. He ran in the special election to fill the unexpired term of Joe Manchin. ^[2][3][4] Maloney's name was listed first on the Republican primary ballot.^[5]

Maloney is a conservative Republican. He wanted to reform the state's tax structure and legal system.^[6][7][8]

Maloney won the May 14 primary election with 45% of the vote, but lost the general election to incumbent governor Earl Ray Tomblin by less than 3%.^[9]

Personal life[link]

Maloney is married to Sharon, and they have two adult daughters. He has a degree in industrial engineering from Lehigh University. Maloney is a member of Chestnut Ridge Church.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

• Maloney for West Virginia campaign site

Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 - 18 May 1980) was an English musician, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the post-punk band Joy Division. Joy Division released their debut album, Unknown Pleasures, in 1979 and recorded their follow-up, Closer, in 1980. Curtis, who suffered from epilepsy and depression, committed suicide on 18 May 1980, on the eve of Joy Division's first North American tour, resulting in the band's dissolution and the subsequent formation of New Order.

Curtis was known for his bass-baritone voice, dance style and songwriting filled with imagery of desolation, emptiness and alienation.

In 1995, Curtis's widow Deborah published Touching from a Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division, a biography of the singer. His life and death have been dramatised in the films 24 Hour Party People (2002) and Control (2007).

Life and career[link]

Early life and marriage[link]

Curtis was born at the Memorial Hospital in Stretford, Lancashire. He grew up in Hurdsfield, an area of Macclesfield,^[1] and from an early age he exhibited talent as a poet. Proof of his ability was his admission at the age of 11 to The King's School, Macclesfield with a scholarship. Despite this, he was not a dedicated student and did not further his education beyond O-level.^[2]

After leaving school he focused on the pursuit of art, literature and, most importantly, music. Curtis was employed in a variety of jobs, including civil servant in Manchester and later Macclesfield.

On 23 August 1975 Curtis married an old school friend, Deborah Woodruff. He was 19 and she 18. Their daughter Natalie was born on 16 April 1979. She is a photographer.^[3]

Joy Division[link]

In 1976 at a Sex Pistols gig, Curtis bumped into Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook.^[4] They were trying to form a band, and Curtis immediately proposed himself as vocalist and lyricist. The trio then unsuccessfully recruited a number of drummers before selecting Stephen Morris as their final member.

Initially the band was called Warsaw, but as their name conflicted with that of another group: Warsaw Pakt, the name was changed to Joy Division. The moniker was derived from a 1955 novel The House of Dolls which featured a Nazi concentration camp with a sexual slavery wing called the "Joy Division".

After starting Factory Records with Alan Erasmus, Tony Wilson signed the band to his label.

Whilst performing for Joy Division, Curtis became known for his quiet and awkward demeanour, as well as a unique dancing style reminiscent of the epileptic seizures he experienced, sometimes even on stage.^[5] There were several incidents where he collapsed and had to be helped off stage.^[6] In an interview for Northern Lights cassette magazine in November 1979 Ian Curtis made his only public comment on his dancing and performance. He explained the dance as a type of sign language with which to further express a song's emotional and lyrical content: "Instead of just singing about something you could show it as well, put it over in the way that it is, if you were totally involved in what you were doing".

Curtis's writing was filled with imagery of emotional isolation, death, alienation, and urban decay. He once commented in an interview that he wrote about "the different ways different people can cope with certain problems, how they might or might not adapt." He sang in a bass-baritone voice, in contrast to his speaking voice, which fell in the tenor range. Earlier in their career, Curtis would sing in a loud snarling voice similar to shouting; it is best displayed on the band's debut EP, An Ideal for Living (1978). Joy Division had its sparse recording style developed by producer Martin Hannett, with some of their most innovative work being created in Strawberry Studios in Stockport (owned by Manchester act 10cc) and Cargo Recording Studios Rochdale in 1979, a studio which was developed from John Peel investing money into the music business in Rochdale.

Although predominantly a vocalist, Curtis also played guitar on a handful of tracks (usually when Sumner was playing synthesiser; "Incubation" was a rare case where both played guitar). At first Curtis played Sumner's Shergold Masquerader, but in September 1979 he acquired his own guitar, a Vox Phantom Special VI (often described incorrectly as a Teardrop or ordinary Phantom model) which had many built-in effects used both live and in studio. After Curtis' death, Sumner inherited the guitar, and used it in several early New Order songs, such as "Everything's Gone Green". Curtis also played keyboard on some live versions of "She's Lost Control". He also played the melodica on "Decades" and "In A Lonely Place"; the latter was written and rehearsed for the cancelled American tour, and later salvaged as a New Order B-side.

Death[link]

Curtis' last live performance was on 2 May 1980, at High Hall of Birmingham University, a show that included Joy Division's first and only performance of "Ceremony", later recorded by New Order and released as their first single. The last song Curtis performed on stage was "Digital". The recording of this performance is on the Still album.^[7]

Detailed in Debbie Curtis' Touching from a Distance, Curtis was staying at his parents' house at this time and attempted to talk his wife into staying with him on 17 May 1980, to no avail. He told her to leave him alone in the house until he caught his train to Manchester the next morning.^[8] In the early hours of 18 May 1980, Curtis hanged himself in the kitchen of his house in Macclesfield. He had just viewed Werner Herzog's film Stroszek and listened to Iggy Pop's The Idiot. At the time of his death, his health was failing as a result of the epilepsy and attempting to balance his musical ambitions with his marriage, which was floundering in the aftermath of his close relationship with journalist Annik Honoré (who in 2010 would claim it was not an "affair" and merely a close and platonic relationship).^[9] His wife found Ian's body the next morning; he had used the kitchen's washing line to hang himself.

Curtis' memorial stone, which is inscribed with "Ian Curtis 18 – 5 – 80" and "Love Will Tear Us Apart", was stolen in July 2008 from the grounds of Macclesfield Cemetery.^[10] The missing memorial stone was later replaced by a new stone.^[11]

In a 1987 interview with Option, Stephen Morris commented on how he would describe Curtis to those who asked what he was like: "An ordinary bloke just like you or me, liked a bit of a laugh, a bit of a joke."^[12]

Legacy[link]

In 1990, Psychic TV released I.C. Water, a song dedicated to Curtis.

Deborah Curtis wrote Touching from a Distance, published in 1995, a biographical account of their marriage, detailing in part his infidelity with Annik Honoré. Authors Mick Middles and Lindsay Reade released the book Torn Apart: The Life of Ian Curtis in 2006. This biography takes a more intimate look at Curtis and includes photographs from personal family albums and excerpts from his letters to Honoré during their affair.

Paul Morley wrote Joy Division, Piece by Piece, writing about Joy Division 1977–2007; it was published in late 2007. The book documents all of his writings and reviews about Joy Division from their forming, up until Tony Wilson's death.

A wall on Wallace Street in Wellington, New Zealand, had the words "Ian Curtis Lives" written on it shortly after the singer's death. The message is repainted whenever it is painted over. A nearby wall on the same street on the 4 January 2005^[13] was originally emblazoned "Ian Curtis RIP", later modified to read "Ian Curtis R.I.P. Walk In Silence" along with the dates "1960–1981" (sic). Both are referred to as "The Ian Curtis Wall". McKinlay recalls after having watched 24 Hr Party People and drinking several pints with his brother, a well known New Zealand beer brewer, in the early hours of the morning he drove with a bucket of paint and a smaller roller to Wallace Street and repainted the wall after it had long since faded. On 10 September 2009, the wall was painted over by Wellington City Council's anti-graffiti team.^[14] The wall was chalked back up on 16 September 2009. Following this, council spokesman Richard MacLean said, "They [the anti-graffiti team] may turn a blind eye to it".^[15] The wall was repainted on 17 September 2009, this time with correct dates.

Film portrayals[link]

Curtis was portrayed by Sean Harris in the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, which dramatised the rise and fall of Factory Records from the 1970s to the 1990s.

In 2007 a British Ian Curtis biographical film called Control was released, based on material from Deborah Curtis' book Touching from a Distance. It was directed by the Dutch rock photographer and music video director Anton Corbijn, who had previously photographed the band and directed the video for "Atmosphere". Deborah Curtis and Tony Wilson were executive producers. Sam Riley, the lead singer of the band 10,000 Things, portrays Curtis, while Samantha Morton plays his wife, Deborah. The film had its debut at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2007 to great acclaim, taking three awards at the Directors' Fortnight. It portrays Curtis' secondary school romance with Deborah, their marriage, his problems balancing his domestic life with his rise to fame, his affair with Annik Honoré, his struggle with poorly medicated epilepsy and depression,^[16] and his suicide.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Mark Rutte
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 October 2010
Monarch	Beatrix
Deputy	Maxime Verhagen
Preceded by	Jan Peter Balkenende
Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in the House of Representatives
In office 29 June 2006 – 14 October 2010
Preceded by	Jozias van Aartsen
Succeeded by	Stef Blok
State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science
In office 17 June 2004 – 27 June 2006
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Annette Nijs
Succeeded by	Bruno Bruins
State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment
In office 22 July 2002 – 17 June 2004
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Hans Hoogervorst
Succeeded by	Henk van Hoof
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 28 June 2006 – 14 October 2010
In office 30 January 2003 – 27 May 2003
Personal details
Born	(1967-02-14) 14 February 1967 (age 45) The Hague, Netherlands
Political party	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Residence	The Hague, Netherlands
Alma mater	Leiden University
Website	Government website

Mark Rutte (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɑrk ˈrʏtə]; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). He has been the Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of General Affairs since 14 October, 2010 as head of the cabinet.

He previously served as State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment from 22 July 2002 to 17 June 2004 in the Cabinets Balkenende I and II. Subsequently he was State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science from 17 June 2004 until his resignation on 27 June 2006, when he was elected to succeed Jozias van Aartsen as the new VVD party leader.^[1][2]

At the 2006 general election the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy under Rutte lost six seats and he became opposition leader, serving during the Cabinet Balkenende IV. After the fall of the Cabinet Balkenende IV, a snap election was called, and Rutte was once again the VVD's lijsttrekker (top party list candidate) for the 2010 general election. The VVD won the highest number of votes cast, resulting in their occupying 31 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives. After a long formation period, Rutte became prime minister and formed a cabinet. When he was sworn in on 14 October 2010, he became the first liberal Prime Minister in the Netherlands in 92 years.^[3] He resigned on 23 April 2012 after his government fell due to an impasse in talks on an austerity budget.

He is party leader of People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since May 31, 2006.

Early life[link]

Born in The Hague, Rutte attended a gymnasium high school, specialising in the arts, from 1979 till 1985. Although his original ambition was to attend the conservatory and become a concert pianist,^[4] he went to study history at Leiden University, where he obtained a MA degree in History in 1992.^[5] He combined his studies with a position in the board of the Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy, the youth organisation of the VVD, of which he was chairperson between 1988 and 1991.^[6]

After his studies he entered the business world, working as a manager for Unilever and Calvé. Until 1997 he was part of the human resource-department of Unilever and played a leading role in several reorganisations. Between 1997 and 2000 he was personnel manager for Van den Bergh Nederland, a subsidiary of Unilever. In 2000 he became member of the Corporate Human Resources Group. And since 2002 he was director of Human Resources for IgloMora Groep, another subsidiary of Unilever.^[7]

Between 1993 and 1997 he was a member of the national board of the VVD. He also served as a member of the VVD candidate committee for the general election of 2002. He was himself elected as a member of parliament in 2003.

Political offices[link]

Rutte served as State Secretary in the Social Affairs and Employment from 22 July 2002, until 17 June 2004 in the first and second Balkenende cabinets. He was responsible for fields including bijstand (municipal welfare) and arbeidsomstandigheden (Occupational safety and health). After the 2003 elections Rutte was briefly also a member of the House of Representatives, between 30 January and 27 May 2003.

Rutte served as State Secretary for Higher Education and Science, within the Education, Culture and Science, replacing Annette Nijs, from 17 June 2004 until 27 June 2006, in the second Balkenende cabinet. In office, Rutte has shown particular interest in making the Dutch higher education system more competitive internationally, by trying to make it more market oriented (improving the position of students as consumers in the market for education). He would have been succeeded by former The Hague alderman Bruno Bruins. Before Bruins could be sworn into office, the second Balkenende cabinet fell. In the subsequently formed third Balkenende cabinet Bruins succeeded Rutte as State Secretary.

When Rutte resigned as State Secretary in June 2006 it was to return to the House of Representatives and to become soon the Parliamentary leader of the VVD. Rutte became an important figure within the VVD leadership. He was campaign manager for the 2006 municipal elections.

2006 leadership election[link]

After the resignation of Jozias van Aartsen, the VVD having lost in the 2006 Dutch municipal election, the party held an internal election for 'lijsttrekker', where Rutte competed against Rita Verdonk and Jelleke Veenendaal. On 31 May 2006, it was announced that Mark Rutte would be the next 'lijsttrekker' of the VVD. He was elected by 51.5% of the party members. Rutte's candidacy was backed by the VVD leadership, including the party board, and many prominent politicians such as Frank de Grave, former minister of Defence, Ivo Opstelten, the mayor of Rotterdam and Ed Nijpels, the Queen's Commissioner of Friesland. The Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy, the VVD's youth wing, of which he had been chairperson, also backed him. During the elections he promised "to make the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy a party for everyone and not just of the elite". His youthful appearance has been likened to the successful former leader of the Labour Party, Wouter Bos.

On accepting the role of candidate-lijsttrekker, Rutte had made it clear that he wished to change the face of the VVD into a party where everyone, not just the "happy few" could feel comfortable. He had also stated that with the current social security ideas of the Labour Party, which he called too conservative, it was unlikely that they would cooperate or form a coalition after the elections. Later he stated that he felt that the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party was a party "the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy could do business with".

2006 Dutch general election[link]

For the Dutch general election, 2006, the VVD campaign with Rutte as leader did not get off to a good start. Rutte received criticism from within his own party for the campaign.^[8] Rutte was said to be overshadowed by his own party members Rita Verdonk and Gerrit Zalm, as well as being unable to penetrate between Wouter Bos and Jan Peter Balkenende, who were generally seen as the prime candidates to become the next Prime Minister of the Netherlands. On 27 November, it became known that Rita Verdonk managed to obtain more votes than Mark Rutte; Rutte obtained 553,200 votes against Verdonk's 620,555.^[8]

Decision to expel Rita Verdonk[link]

After repeated criticisms by Rita Verdonk on the policy of the VVD, Rutte expelled her on 14 September 2007, from the party's parliamentary faction.^[9]

2010 Dutch general election[link]

Mark Rutte at the inauguration of his Cabinet on October 14, 2010

Mark Rutte on his first day as Prime Minister of the Netherlands on October 14, 2010.

Mark Rutte with the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Nick Clegg on November 15, 2010.

Mark Rutte with the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek on November 30, 2010.

In the Dutch general election, 2010, Rutte was once again the lijsttrekker for the VVD. With 31 seats, his party came out the biggest in parliament out of these elections, for the first time in the history of Dutch politics.^[10] A long period of negotiations followed, with several personalities succeeding each other as informateur, or persons being appointed by the Queen, in order to find out what coalition could be formed.

Efforts to have a coalition of liberals, Christian-democrats and socialists failed. Instead the only possibility appeared to be a center-right coalition of liberals and Christian democrats (CDA), with the outside support of the Party for Freedom (PVV), led by Geert Wilders.

After having succeeded in making this minority government accepted by his own party, by the Christian democrats and by Geert Wilders, Rutte proceeded by appointing the ministers, with Maxime Verhagen (CDA) as his deputy prime minister.

Prime Minister[link]

On 8 October 2010 he was appointed formateur (charged with forming a new government) and formed his Cabinet. He presented his team to Parliament and it was confirmed in office by the smallest possible majority.

Rutte is the first Prime Minister of the Netherlands not from a Christian democratic party or the Labour Party since 1918 as well as the first liberal to become PM since Pieter Cort van der Linden, who was Prime Minister from 1913 till 1918.^[10] He is also the first VVD PM.

In March 2012, seeking to comply with European Union requirements for the nation's deficit, Rutte began talks with coalition parties VVD and CDA and supporting party PVV on a budget for 2013, which would cut 16 billion Euros of spending. However, PVV leader Geert Wilders withdrew his party's support on April 21, stating that the budget would hurt economic growth,^[11] causing the government to fall. Rutte submitted his resignation to Queen Beatrix on the afternoon of 23 April.^[12] His government lasted for 558 days, making it one of the shortest Netherlands cabinets since World War II.^[11] New elections are currently being prepared, which will probably be held on 12 September 2012.

Personal life[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2011)

Mark Rutte is unmarried.^[13] He is a member of the Calvinist Reformed Protestant Church in the Netherlands. He still teaches two hours a week at the Johan de Witt College in The Hague^[5].

Controversial statements[link]

In 2009, Rutte stated that Holocaust denial, although it is in itself ridiculous, should no longer be illegal.^[14]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Mark Rutte

• Media related to Mark Rutte at Wikimedia Commons
• Mark Rutte (Ministry of General Affairs)
• (Dutch) Drs. M. (Mark) Rutte (Parlement & Politiek)

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