Jaap Smit (born 8 March 1957) is a Dutch preacher, manager, trade unionist and government official serving as the King's Commissioner of

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

since 2014. A member of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutiona ...

(CDA), he previously led the Christian National Trade Union Federation (CNV) from 2010 to 2014.

Biography

Smit was born in

't Harde t Harde is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is situated about 6 km southeast of Elburg, on the edge of the Veluwe forest. It has a train station with connections to Zwolle and Amersfoort. The village's population is approxim ...

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

in 1957. He went to the Dr. W.A. Visser 't Hooft

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the ...

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

between 1970 and 1976. He studied theology at Leiden University between 1976 and 1983 with side courses in masscommunication and public relations. In 1979 he already returned to his former lyceum to teach courses in religion and life stance, he continued until 1984. In that year he became a preacher at the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family a ...

in Ellecom, where he stayed on for four years. He then became a mental caretaker in the Dutch Army at Seedorf, Lower Saxony in Germany, also for four years. In 1992 he again became a preacher at the

, this time in

Heemstede Heemstede () is a town and a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the fourth richest municipality of the Netherlands. History Heemstede formed around the Castle ''Heemstede'' that was built overlooking th ...

. He stayed on until 1997. In 1994 he started managing, first as a senior manager at KPMG Consulting until 2001, later at IBO Permanent between 2000 and 2005. Between 2001 and 2003 he was also a consultant at Andersson Elffers Felix. From August 2003 until 2010 he was a director at Slachtofferhulp Nederland, a society for victim support. Afterwards he became trade union leader of the Christian National Trade Union Federation, a federation of Christian trade unions. He was in function between June 2010 and 1 January 2014, when he became King's Commissioner of

. He succeeded

Jan Franssen Jan Franssen (born 11 June 1951 in Hilversum) is a Dutch politician. Franssen is a member of the VVD. He began his political career as an advisor to Hans Wiegel, having previously worked as a history teacher. Franssen was also a city councillor ...

, who served two terms of seven years. At the start of his term he said he would focus on making the province level of government more visible and ensuring that trust of the population would be made a priority.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smit, Jaap 1957 births Living people People from Elburg Leiden University alumni 20th-century Dutch Calvinist and Reformed ministers Dutch trade unionists King's and Queen's Commissioners of South Holland Christian Democratic Appeal politicians