Edzo Hendrik Toxopeus (19 February 1918 – 23 August 2009) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party i ...

(VVD) and jurist. Toxopeus studied Law at the

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

obtaining a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mo ...

degree. Toxopeus worked as a

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

from July 1942 until October 1944 and worked as a military lawyer in the

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dutc ...

from November 1944 until August 1945. Toxopeus worked as a

criminal defense lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ju ...

in Breda from August 1945 until May 1959. Toxopeus became as a Member of the House of Representatives shortly after the election of 1956 when the number of seats was increased from 100 to 150 on 6 November 1956 and served as a

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kn ...

and

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for

Law Enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...

and

Spatial Planning Spatial planning mediates between the respective claims on space of the state, market, and community. In so doing, three different mechanisms of involving stakeholders, integrating sectoral policies and promoting development projects mark the th ...

. After the election of 1959 Toxopeus was appointed as

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in the Cabinet De Quay taking office on 19 May 1959. Shortly before an upcoming election

Party Leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a political ...

and

Parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are their ...

Pieter Oud Pieter Jacobus Oud (5 December 1886 – 12 August 1968) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) party and later co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) ...

announced his retirement and Toxopeus announced his candidacy to succeed him and was selected as his successor on 30 March 1963. For the election of 1963 Toxopeus served as '' Lijsttrekker'' (top candidate) and following a

cabinet formation Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

the coalition continued and Toxopeus retained his position in the Cabinet Marijnen. The Cabinet Marijnen fell just 19 months into its term and was replaced by the Cabinet Cals on 14 April 1965. Toxopeus returned to the House of Representatives on 21 September 1965 but against custom didn't take over as Parliamentary leader immediately and instead served as a frontbencher chairing the House Committee on the Interior and served as deputy parliamentary leader and spokesperson for General Affairs before taking over as Parliamentary leader on 12 March 1966. Toxopeus also served as President of the Liberal International from 15 April 1966 until 25 April 1970. For the election of 1967 Toxopeus again ''Lijsttrekker'' and following a successful cabinet formation with the

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

formed the Cabinet De Jong with Toxopeus opting to remain as Parliamentary leader. On 1 October 1969 Toxopeus unexpectedly announced he was stepping down as Leader but continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a

backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the ...

until his resignation on 1 November 1969. Toxopeus continued to be active in politics and in January 1970 was nominated as the next Queen's Commissioner of

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...

serving from 16 February 1970 until 1 November 1980. Toxopeus also became active in the

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

and

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, inf ...

s as a corporate and non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government. In October 1970 Toxopeus was nominated as a Member of the Council of State serving from 1 November 1980 until 1 March 1988. Toxopeus retired from active politics at 70 but continued to be active as an advocate and lobbyist for more

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic, political, legal, social, and cultural integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integration has primarily come about through the European Union and its ...

and served as an occasional diplomat for economic and diplomatic delegations for the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. Toxopeus was known for his abilities as a skillful

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

and effective negotiator. Toxopeus granted the honorary title of

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...

on 22 January 1985 and continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death in August 2009 at the age of 91. He holds the distinction as the longest-serving Minister of the Interior after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

with .

Early life

After earning his diploma in

he studied at the

. He gained the master's degree in 1942. From 1942-1959 he was an established lawyer in

. From October 1944 to August 1945 he was head of the legal department of the military commission at

. From 1949-1959 he served as VVD member on Breda's municipal council. From 1956-1959 he was a Member of the House of Representatives.

Politics

Toxopeus introduced several major reforms to the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, including major increase to salaries, improvements to employment conditions and the free Saturday was implemented in 1961. From 1970-1980 he was Queen's Commissioner of

. Until 1988 he was a member of the

Dutch Council of State The Council of State ( nl, ) is a constitutionally established advisory body in the Netherlands to the government and States General that officially consists of members of the royal family and Crown-appointed members generally having political, ...

. Following the formation of the Cabinet Van Agt-Wiegel Toxopeus was asked to become

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

but he refused.

Death

Toxopeus died on 23 August 2009, at age 91.Minister van staat Edzo Toxopeus (91) overleden
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Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Mr. E.H. (Edzo) Toxopeus
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Toxopeus, Edzo 1918 births 2009 deaths Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Criminal defense lawyers Dutch corporate directors Dutch humanitarians Dutch human rights activists Dutch lobbyists Dutch Mennonites Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch political activists Former Lutherans Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit (Portugal) Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau King's and Queen's Commissioners of Groningen Leaders of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers of State (Netherlands) Ministers of the Interior of the Netherlands Municipal councillors of Breda People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Presidents of the Liberal International People from Amersfoort People from Breda People from Oegstgeest Royal Netherlands Army officers Royal Netherlands Army personnel of World War II 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch diplomats 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch lawyers 20th-century Dutch politicians