Ruud Lubbers
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
In office January 1, 2001 – February 20, 2005
Preceded by	Sadako Ogata
Succeeded by	António Guterres
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office November 4, 1982 – August 22, 1994
Monarch	Beatrix
Preceded by	Dries van Agt
Succeeded by	Wim Kok
Parliamentary leader - Christian Democratic Appeal House of Representatives
In office November 7, 1978 – November 4, 1982
Preceded by	Wim Aantjes
Succeeded by	Bert de Vries
Member of the House of Representatives
In office December 22, 1977 – November 4, 1982
Minister of Economic Affairs
In office May 11, 1973 – December 19, 1977
Prime Minister	Joop den Uyl
Preceded by	Harry Langman
Succeeded by	Gijs van Aardenne
Personal details
Born	Rudolphus Franciscus Marie Lubbers (1939-05-07) May 7, 1939 (age 73) Rotterdam, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal (from 1980)
Other political affiliations	Catholic People's Party (1964-1980)
Spouse(s)	Ria Lubbers-Hoogeweegen (b. 1940 m. 1962)
Residence	Rotterdam, Netherlands Dalfsen, Netherlands
Alma mater	Erasmus University (M.A.) Georgetown University (Dr.h.c.) Hankuk University (Dr.h.c.) Grand Valley State University (Dr.h.c.) Radboud University Nijmegen (Dr.h.c.)
Occupation	Politician Diplomat Economist Businessman Activist Professor
Religion	Roman Catholic

Rudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈryt ˈlʏbərs] ( listen); born May 7, 1939) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from November 4, 1982 until August 22, 1994.

He previously served as Minister of Economic Affairs from May 11, 1973 until December 19, 1977 in the Cabinet den Uyl. He became a Member of the House of Representatives from December 22, 1977 until November 4, 1982. When the Parliamentary leader of Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives Wim Aantjes resigned of a World War II controversy, Lubbers succeed him as Parliamentary leader, he served from November 7, 1978 until November 4, 1982. When the Christian Democratic Appeal Party leader and sitting Prime Minister Dries van Agt announced his retirement, Lubbers was chosen to succeed him. Lubbers became Prime Minister of the Netherlands, leading the Cabinets Lubbers I, II and III. Lubbers was regarded by many during his time in office as an ideological heir to Margaret Thatcher. One of his campaign slogans was: "meer markt, minder overheid" (more market, less government).

After his premiership, Lubbers semi-retired from active politics and became a Professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and Tilburg University from 1995 until 2001. He became the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on January 1, 2001 and served until his resignation on February 20, 2005. Lubbers acted as informateur for two cabinet formations, the Cabinet Balkenende III in 2006 and the Cabinet Rutte in 2010. Lubbers holds the records of being the youngest person to occupy the office, at the age of 43 and the longest serving Prime Minister of the Netherlands. He is currently a member of the Club de Madrid, an organization of former democratic statesmen that works to strengthen democratic governance and leadership.^[1]

On January 31, 1995 he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State.^[2]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Rudolphus Franciscus Marie Lubbers was born on May 7, 1939 in Rotterdam in the Netherlands province of South Holland. He studied economics at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and was a student of the first Nobel Prize Laureate in economics Jan Tinbergen. As suggested by the title of his 1962 thesis - "The influence of differing productivity trends in various countries on the current account of the balance of payments" - his main interest was in monetary affairs. He originally planned an academic career, but was compelled by family circumstances to join the management of Lubbers' Construction Workshops and Machinery Fabricators Hollandia B.V.

Politics[link]

Ruud Lubbers as Prime Minister of the Netherlands in 1982.

Ruud Lubbers with then United States Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger in 1983.

Ruud Lubbers as Prime Minister of the Netherlands in 1984, speaking with a union leader.

Ruud Lubbers as Prime Minister of the Netherlands in 1986.

Ruud Lubbers at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in 1993.

Ruud Lubbers in 1999.

Ruud Lubbers in 2010.

From 11 May 1973 to 19 December 1977 Ruud Lubbers was Minister of Economic Affairs in the Den Uyl-government and a member of the Catholic People's Party (KVP). He was an effective, if sometimes somewhat bad-tempered minister. He chose to return to Parliament on the formation of the Van Agt-government in 1977, becoming Senior Deputy Parliamentary Leader of the CDA, the alliance between the KVP and the other two main Christian parties. His career got an unexpected boost when the leader of the parliamentary faction of the CDA, Willem Aantjes, had to resign in 1978 because accusations that he had served in the Germanic-SS during the Second World War. Lubbers took over the position of Aantjes and suddenly found himself in a powerful political position.

In 1982 after the general election won by Prime Minister Dries van Agt, a similar thing happened when Van Agt suddenly announced he would not be available for a third term. Lubbers took over the post, a position he held three successive governments through to 1994, making him the longest serving prime minister in the history of the Netherlands.

Major aspects of his time in office:

• Extensive cutbacks in public spending
• The launch of far-reaching deregulation and privatization programs
• A massive demonstration in The Hague (1983) against the planned installation in the Netherlands of nuclear-armed US cruise missiles (which was cancelled after all due to arms reduction talks between the US and the Soviet Union)

After leaving office, was put forward as a candidate for the head of NATO, but the US vetoed his appointment.

Ecological activities[link]

In the follow-up of the Earth Summit in 1992, Lubbers engaged with the Earth Charter Initiative in cooperation with Mikhail Gorbachev and Maurice Strong. The Earth Charter document was launched in the Peace Palace in The Hague in June 2000. Lubbers is an active member of the international Earth Charter Commission and reaches out, especially to youth in the Netherland, with the message of the Earth Charter for a sustainable and peaceful world.

Academic[link]

From 1995 to 2000, he taught Globalization Studies at Tilburg University in the Netherlands and at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in the United States. He was also vice-chairman of the Independent World Commission on the Oceans and chair of Globus, the Institute for Globalization and Development based in Tilburg.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees[link]

At the end of the year 2000, Lubbers was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, to succeed Mrs. Sadako Ogata as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Lubbers was appointed 1 January 2001 to head an organization which was concerned with an estimated 21 million refugees and internally displaced in over 120 countries world wide. He led a UN agency that comprised over 5,000 employees who work across the globe. During his tenure, the number of refugees worldwide decreased by almost 22% from 21.8 million in 2001 to close to 17.1 million at the beginning of 2004.

Lubbers also favoured a generous refugee policy for the Netherlands and he was critical of the Foreign Citizens Law (Vreemdelingenwet). Part of his achievement is that since he took on his duties as High Commissioner, the persistent criticism of UNHCR dating from before that time, subsided.^{[citation needed]} He also managed to stabilise UNHCR’s financial situation and to greatly increase the financial means for the sheltering of refugees.^{[citation needed]}

He annually donated some $300,000 to the refugee agency since he assumed his post in 2001, thereby covering his own $167,000 annual salary and travel expenses.

Sexual harassment complaint[link]

In May 2004, Lubbers was accused by Cynthia Brzak, an American UNHCR employee, of sexual harassment following a meeting in his office that was attended by two other UNHCR staff members. The complaint was reported in the media,^[3] prompting Lubbers to inform UNHCR staff about the accusation. On this occasion, he denied any wrongdoing and rejected the allegation against him.^{[citation needed]} On 2 June 2004, the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) which was tasked with investigating the accusation, sent its report to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.^[4][5] In its public annual report to the UN secretary general (presented to the UN General Assembly), the OIOS reported concerning the case that it had “submitted a report to the Secretary-General supporting the allegations and recommended that appropriate actions be taken accordingly.”^[6]

Lubbers responded to the OIOS report in a letter setting out to (a) deny acts of sexual harassment or abuse took place; (b) establish that such evidence of the alleged misconduct as is said to exist is insufficient and flawed; and (c) conclude that the report itself would appear to be based on an irregular statutory basis and also flawed by errors of law and reasoning."^[7]

Lubbers asked Max van der Stoel, former Dutch high commissioner for minorities, to comment on the confidential report.^[8] He concluded that: "the OIOS report is deficient in objectivity and impartiality." He added “that the only two other persons in the room did not provide evidence confirming the version given by the complainant.” Furthermore he accused UN officials of leaking information to the press and recommended that an investigation of the leaks be undertaken.^[9]

The Secretary-General reviewed the report and the responses of the High Commissioner and the senior manager to the report, and decided that the complaint could not be substantiated by the evidence and therefore closed the matter."^[10] He is also reported to have consulted with Stephen Schwebel, an American judge and former President of the International Court of Justice.^{[citation needed]} The Secretary-General failed to order an investigation of the deliberate leaking by OIOS itself to the media as recommended by Max van der Stoel.

Resignation[link]

In February 2005, the case was in the news again when the British daily the Independent obtained a copy of the OIOS report and accompanied by an article by Kate Holt published its contents.^[11] Inter alia, the report stated that:

the allegation against Lubbers is substantiated in that Lubbers did engage in unwanted physical contact with the complainant, a subordinate female staff member. New allegations that came to OIOS’ attention during the investigation, were also examined and indicate a pattern of sexual harassment by Lubbers, OIOS is also of the view that Lubbers abused his authority as High Commissioner by his intense, pervasive and intimidating attempts to influence the outcome of this Investigation.^[5]

Lubbers met with the Secretary-General on 18 February 2005, and resigned as High Commissioner on Sunday, 20 February 2005, stating to the press: "For more than four years I gave all my energy to UNHCR. To be frank, despite all my loyalty, insult has now been added to injury and therefore I resign as High Commissioner." The UN secretary general's office issued a statement the same day which stated, that the High Commissioner's resignation was in the best interests of the UNHCR.^[12] In his letter of resignation, Lubbers stated that his resignation constituted no expression of guilt, but that he had become the victim of smearing, adding that he had resigned “in the interest of the organisation”.^[13] In October 2005 Kofi Annan reiterated that he had come to the conclusion that "the evidence did not support the accusation" but that because of ongoing media-pressure Mr. Lubber's resignation was in the best interests of the UNHCR.^[14] In a letter to UNHCR staff, Kofi Annan wrote, “My decision to accept his resignation should not be interpreted as a finding of guilt”.^[15]

During a farewell meeting for Lubbers as High Commissioner for Refugees he received from Acting High Commissioner Wendy Chamberlin the first annual UNHCR Achievement Award for exceptional services to UNHCR and for the world’s refugees.^[16]

Netherlands Prime Minister Balkenende in a formal statement called the departure of Lubbers “bitter” since the complaint against him had been dismissed as unsustainable.^{[citation needed]}

Informateur[link]

• After the fall of the Cabinet Balkenende II Lubbers became the Informateur for the formation of the Demissionary interim Cabinet Balkenende III.
• For the 2010 Dutch cabinet formation, after coalition meetings between People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, Labour Party, Democrats 66 and GreenLeft failed to form a new Purple government Lubbers was asked again to become Informateur tho seek possibilities for a new coalition.^[17]

Honours and awards[link]

This section requires expansion.

Honours[link]

• Order of the Netherlands Lion (Netherlands)
  • Knight Grand Cross (8 October 1994)
  • Knight (11 April 1978)
• Varia foreign honours

Awards[link]

• Honorary citizen of Maastricht (Netherlands, March 1994)
• Four Freedoms Award (3 April 1995)
• Van Oldenbarneveltpenning (December 2003 )

Honorary degrees[link]

• Honorary doctorate for contributions in politics and economics, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (Vila Real, Portugal, 1993)
• Honorary doctorate in Law, Georgetown University (Washington, D.C., USA, 1993)
• Honorary doctorate in Political sciences, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (Seoul, South-Korea, 1993)
• Honorary doctorate, Grand Valley State University (Michigan, USA, 1994)
• Honorary doctorate, Radboud University (Nijmegen, Netherlands, 6 September 2004)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Drs. R.F.M. Lubbers (Ministry of General Affairs)
• (Dutch) Dr. R.F.M. (Ruud) Lubbers (Parlement & Politiek)

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ruud Lubbers

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ruud Lubbers

v t e Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Schimmelpenninck • de Kempenaer • Thorbecke • van Hall • van der Brugghen • Rochussen • van Zuylen van Nijevelt • van Heemstra • Fransen van de Putte • van Zuylen van Nijevelt •van Bosse • de Vries • J. Heemskerk • Kappeyne van de Coppello • van Lynden van Sandenburg • J. Heemskerk • Mackay • van Tienhoven • Roëll • Pierson • Kuyper • de Meester • T. Heemskerk • Cort van der Linden • Ruijs de Beerenbrouck • Colijn • de Geer • Gerbrandy • Schermerhorn • Beel • Drees • de Quay • Marijnen • Cals • Zijlstra • de Jong • Biesheuvel • den Uyl • van Agt • Lubbers • Kok • Balkenende • Rutte

v t e Presidents of the European Council President-in-Office (1975–2009) Liam Cosgrave · Aldo Moro · Gaston Thorn · Joop den Uyl · James Callaghan · Leo Tindemans · Anker Jørgensen · Helmut Schmidt · Valéry Giscard d'Estaing · Jack Lynch · Francesco Cossiga · Charles Haughey · Pierre Werner · Dries van Agt · Margaret Thatcher · Wilfried Martens · Anker Jørgensen · Poul Schlüter · Helmut Kohl · Andreas Papandreou · François Mitterrand · Garret FitzGerald · Bettino Craxi · Jacques Santer · Ruud Lubbers · Margaret Thatcher · Wilfried Martens · Poul Schlüter · Helmut Kohl · Andreas Papandreou · Felipe González · François Mitterrand · Charles Haughey · Giulio Andreotti · Jacques Santer · Ruud Lubbers · Poul Schlüter · Aníbal Cavaco Silva · John Major · Poul Nyrup Rasmussen · Jean-Luc Dehaene · Andreas Papandreou · Helmut Kohl · Jacques Chirac · Felipe González · Lamberto Dini · Romano Prodi · John Bruton · Wim Kok · Jean-Claude Juncker · Tony Blair · Viktor Klima · Gerhard Schröder · Paavo Lipponen · António Guterres · Jacques Chirac · Göran Persson · Guy Verhofstadt · José María Aznar López · Anders Fogh Rasmussen · Costas Simitis · Silvio Berlusconi · Bertie Ahern · Jan Peter Balkenende · Jean-Claude Juncker · Tony Blair · Wolfgang Schüssel · Matti Vanhanen · Angela Merkel · José Sócrates · Janez Janša · Nicolas Sarkozy · Mirek Topolánek · Jan Fischer · Fredrik Reinfeldt Permanent President (since 2009) Herman Van Rompuy

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André van Duin

André van Duin (pseudonym for Adrianus Marinus Kyvon; born 20 February 1947 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch actor (in comedy and theatre), singer, writer and program creator.

History[link]

Television, radio and theatre[link]

Van Duin was discovered in 1964 when he won the AVRO talent contest show Nieuwe Oogst, which gave him the opportunity to debut on television alongside singing father and daughter Willy and Willeke Alberti.

From 1967 onwards, André van Duin made regular appearances on Dutch television and took apprenticeship at comedians Snip & Snap's theatre-shows. He did his homework well and in the 1970s he set up his own Revue with Frans van Dusschoten (the straight man) and Corrie van Gorp. These shows were televised on TROS and in 1975 Van Duin won an award for Dag Dag Heerlijke Lach

In 1972, André van Duin began the radio program Dik Voormekaar Show. First with Radio Noordzee Internationaal, later with the NCRV and TROS. Surprisingly he involved his then technician, Ferry de Groot, in the show, becoming the successful character "Meneer de Groot" (Mister de Groot). The show continued to air as recently as 2009.

In 1989 Van Duin, alongside stable-mate Ron Brandsteder, was taken over by TV Tien, the commercial station that never happened due to transmission problems; instead they ended up joining at RTL being team-captains in Wie ben ik ? hosted by Caroline Tensen. Between 1993 and 1999 Van Duin made television shows for RTL; one notable moment was when he mocked Tensen's apology-themed programme Het spijt me by driving a wedge between Tensen and Brandsteder. The latter knew that something suspicious was going on and embarked on the warpath accusing Van Duin of playing divide and conquer.

In 2007 the André's Nieuwe Revue-tour was launched; the long-neglected Belgium was visited in November 2008 for five shows in Antwerp.

After 18 years with RTL, Van Duin happily returned to his beloved TROS. In 2009 he made a new series of Dik Voormekaar Shows.

Acting[link]

In 1972 André van Duin debuted as a serious actor in Het Meisje Met De Blauwe Hoed (The Girl With The Blue Hat) playing an army recruit.

In 1981 he pushed the envelope by starring in his own movie; Ik ben Joep Meloen is the story of a piano tuner who sees his Concerto Grosso turned down, the rent expires, the love of his life marries another and he can't even arrange his own assassination. Instead Joep Meloen takes gangsters' advice and jumps in the canal, only to save a troubled singer, played by Corrie van Gorp, from committing suicide. There is still one problem; the gangsters have changed their minds and decided to kill him after all.

Ik Ben Joep Meloen premiered late 1981 and did reasonably well.

In 1982 Van Duin worked on De Boezemvriend, partly an adaptation of the Danny Kaye movie The Inspector General which portrays charlatan dentist Fred 'Pas du Pain' van der Zee mistaken for Napoleon's delegate. Several celebrities made an appearance (including Connie Breukhoven as Mercedes and the late Andre Hazes who runs the restaurant where Fred avoids the bill by eating meats until he drops).

De Boezemvriend premiered late 1982 but unlike Joep Meloen it was considered a failure. Van Duin didn't enjoy making movies as much as he enjoyed making television programmes and hasn't returned to the big screen since.

Singing[link]

The wacky side[link]

As a singer, André van Duin has quite a number of popular songs to his name. He has had hits such as Het bananenlied, Angelique, De tamme boerenzoon, File, Doorgaan and Willy Alberti, bedankt. He has also had some hits that grew from stage performances such as Er staat een paard in de gang (1981) and Ik heb hele grote bloemkolen'.

In January 1976, Van Duin had another massive hit with Willempie. Parents to mentally challenged children however considered it too offensive, even though the song wasn't intended to. Willempie was number 1 on AVRO's 'Top Pop'-chart for three weeks, but the song was banned while controversy lasted. Van Duin escaped legal actions by apologising on 'Top Pop' at the end of the month.

A year later Andre van Duin released the more neutral Ta Ta Ta; TV-appearances were lightened up by playing a conductor to a choir of penguins and nuns.

In the 1990s he had one of his last major hits with Pizzalied (Effe Wachten) (no. 1 late 1993).

The serious side[link]

In 1976 Van Duin released And're Andre (close translation: The Other Andre), an album stripped of wackiness (although File, a roadblock-themed cover version of Morris Albert's Feelings is a slight compromise) that became the first of five volumes. Besides And're Andre, Van Duin went on to release Wij (Us), Wij Twee (Two of Us), an album full of Perry Como-translations and Recht Uit Het Hart (Straight From The Heart).

His 1980s fun hits were interrupted by tributes to the sunny weather (including a cover version of Because I Love You) and durable friendship (a duet with Willeke Alberti).

The TV-special that accompanied the 1985 volume of And're Andre triggered off the WWF-promoting Animal Crackers-series.

2010; new album, biography and compilation-show[link]

In March 2010, Van Duin released Dubbel, a 2CD made up of both serious and wacky songs (with the mother's day-tribute "Moederdag" another compromise and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" becoming the cattle-themed "Alle Koeien"). Embarking on a promotion-trip he made a 30 March appearance on weekday-talkshow De Wereld Draait Door (where he announced the comeback of Animal Crackers), the next day followed by shocking revelations from Jan Wijdbeens, a journalist who interviewed celebrities for Van Duin's RTL-shows. TROS aired the TV-special Andre van Duin; Pur Sang on Easter Monday 5 April.

Ferry de Groot is currently writing a Van Duin biography.

In October, Van Duin took over the Saturday-evening slot from Paul de Leeuw. In these compilation-shows Wijdbeens visits celebrities asking them for their favourite Van Duin-moments and handing out packages of gadgets from the heyday.

Private life[link]

Andre van Duin had a longtime relationship with Wim van der Pluym; they split in the 1990s, and shortly thereafter van der Pluym died.^{[citation needed]} Van Duin found a new love in Martin Elferink whom he married on 23 December 2006,^[1] ten days after their plans were announced.^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• André van Duin at the Internet Movie Database

Hans van Mierlo
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office August 22, 1994 – August 3, 1998
Prime Minister	Wim Kok
Preceded by	Pieter Kooijmans
Succeeded by	Jozias van Aartsen
Deputy Prime Minister
In office August 22, 1994 – August 3, 1998 Serving with Hans Dijkstal
Prime Minister	Wim Kok
Preceded by	Wim Kok
Succeeded by	Annemarie Jorritsma Els Borst
Member of the House of Representatives
In office June 3, 1986 – August 22, 1994
Parliamentary leader – Democrats 66 House of Representatives
In office May 22, 1986 – August 19, 1994
Preceded by	Maarten Engwirda
Succeeded by	Gerrit-Jan Wolffensperger
Member of the Senate
In office September 13, 1983 – June 4, 1986
Minister of Defense
In office September 11, 1981 – November 4, 1982
Prime Minister	Dries van Agt
Preceded by	Pieter de Geus
Succeeded by	Job de Ruiter
Member of the House of Representatives
In office Februari 23, 1967 – June 8, 1977
Parliamentary leader – Democrats 66 House of Representatives
In office February 16, 1967 – September 1, 1973
Preceded by	First
Succeeded by	Jan Terlouw
Personal details
Born	Henricus Antonius Franciscus Maria Oliva van Mierlo (1931-08-18)August 18, 1931 Breda, Netherlands
Died	March 11, 2010(2010-03-11) (aged 78) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Democrats 66
Spouse(s)	Anna Los (divorced) Olla van Maasdijk (divorced) Connie Palmen (2009–2010)
Alma mater	Radboud University Nijmegen (LL.M.)
Occupation	Politician Civil servant Journalist
Religion	Roman Catholic (1931–1952) Atheism (from 1952)

Henricus Antonius Franciscus Maria Oliva "Hans" van Mierlo (August 18, 1931 – March 11, 2010) was a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66). In 1966 Van Mierlo together with Hans Gruijters founded the Democrats 66. He served as Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives for a total of 14 years, from February 16, 1967 until September 1, 1973 and from May 22, 1986 until August 19, 1994. He has been member of both the Senate and House of Representatives of the States-General.

He served as Minister of Defense from September 11, 1981 until November 4, 1982 in the Cabinets van Agt II and III. He later served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister from August 22, 1994 until August 3, 1998 in the Cabinet Kok I.

On October 24, 1998 he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State.^[1]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Hans van Mierlo attended high school at the Canisius College in Nijmegen. He studied law Radboud University Nijmegen. In 1960 he did his examination as Master of Laws. From 1960 up to 1967 he worked at NRC Handelsblad in Amsterdam, first as an editor Home Affairs, later as the opinion page's chief editor.

Politics[link]

In 1966 he co-founded the social liberal Democrats 66 (D66). He was a Member of the House of Representatives from Februari 23, 1967 until June 8, 1977. He was the Democrats 66 first Chair of the Parliamentary Party in the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) from February 16, 1967 until September 1, 1973. From September 11, 1981 until November 4, 1982 he was Minister of Defense in the Cabinets van Agt II and III. He served as a Member of the Senate (Eerste Kamer) from September 13, 1983 until June 4, 1986. He again served as a Member of the House of Representatives from June 3, 1986 until August 22, 1994 and as Chair of the Parliamentary Party of the House of Representatives from May 22, 1986 until August 19, 1994. Van Mierlo concluded his political career as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister from August 22, 1994 until August 3, 1998 in the Cabinet Kok I.

Personal[link]

He was appointed Minister of State on October 24, 1998, a mainly honorary title for politicians with an extensive history of government service. Hans van Mierlo has been married three times. He has a son from his first marriage and two daughters from the second. Since 1999 Van Mierlo had a relationship with the Dutch writer Connie Palmen; they got married on November 11, 2009, in Amsterdam.^[2]

Death[link]

Hans van Mierlo died on March 11, 2010 at the of age 78.;^[3][4] he had been living with a transplanted liver since 2000 ^[5] which was required after liver failure as a consequence of a hepatitis C contamination contracted from a blood transfusion in 1982.^[6]

Decorations[link]

• Commander - Order of Orange-Nassau
• Commander - Légion d'honneur

References[link]

External links[link]

• (Dutch) Official Parliamentary Biography

v t e Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Schimmelpenninck | Bentinck van Nijenhuis | Lightenvelt | Van Sonsbeeck | Ja. van Zuylen van Nijevelt | Van Hall | Gevers van Endegeest | Van Goltstein | Van Hall | Ju. van Zuylen van Nijevelt | Van der Goes van Dirxland | Ja. van Zuylen van Nijevelt | Strens | Stratenus | Van der Maesen de Sombreff | Huyssen van Kattendijke | Cremers | Ju. van Zuylen van Nijevelt | Van Mulken | Roest van Limburg | Van Mulken | Gericke van Herwijnen | Van der Does de Willebois | Van Heeckeren van Kell | Van Lynden van Sandenburg | Rochussen | Van der Does de Willebois | Du Tour van Bellinchave | Van Karnebeek | Hartsen | Van Tienhoven | Jansen | Röell | De Beaufort | Van Lynden | Ellis | Van Weede van Berencamp | Ellis | Van Tets van Goudriaan | De Marees van Swinderen | Cort van der Linden | Loudon | Van Karnebeek | Beelaerts van Blokland | De Graeff | Ruijs de Beerenbrouck | Colijn | Patijn | Van Kleffens | Van Roijen | Van Boetzelaer van Oosterhout | Stikker | Beyen | Luns | Schmelzer | Van der Stoel | Van der Klaauw | Van der Stoel | Van Agt | Van den Broek | Kooijmans | Van Mierlo | Van Aartsen | De Hoop Scheffer | Bot | Verhagen | Rosenthal

Frans Weisglas
President of the House of Representatives
In office May 16, 2002 – November 30, 2006
Preceded by	Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven
Succeeded by	Gerdi Verbeet
Member of the House of Representatives
In office September 16, 1982 – November 30, 2006
Personal details
Born	Frans Willy Weisglas (1946-08-08) August 8, 1946 (age 65) The Hague, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Spouse(s)	Nynke Kuperus (Since 1973)
Residence	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Alma mater	Erasmus University Rotterdam (M.Econ.)
Occupation	Politician Diplomat Civil servant
Website	Official site

Frans Willy Weisglas (born August 8, 1946) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). He served as President of the House of Representatives from May 16, 2002 until November 30, 2006. He was the first elected president. He was a Member of the House of Representatives from September 16, 1982 until November 30, 2006.^[1]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Weisglas studied economics at the Erasmus University, in Rotterdam, obtaining a degree in 1970.

Politics[link]

After his graduation, he worked for some years for the Dutch foreign service, being part of the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations (1970–1977). He then worked as a secretary to the Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation (1978–1981). In 1982, he became an elected member of the House of Representatives, where he focused on foreign and European affairs.

In 2002, Weisglas was elected President of the House, after Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven of the Labour Party stepped down. He was the first President of the House to be elected and re-elected (2003) by a democratic vote among parliamentarians.

On August 15, 2006, he announced that he would not be a candidate in the 2006 Dutch general election, ending his 24 year-old career as a politician. His last day as President of the House was on November 29, 2006.^[2]

Trivia[link]

He is an ambassador for Terre des hommes.

Decorations[link]

• Order of the Netherlands Lion
  • Knight (April 28, 1995)
• Order of the Oak Crown
  • Grand Cross (April 24, 2006)
• Order of Leopold
  • Commander (July 4, 2006)
• Order of Orange-Nassau
  • Knight (November 29, 2006)

References[link]

External links[link]

• (Dutch) Drs. F.W. (Frans) Weisglas (Parlement & Politiek)