Frederik "Frits" Korthals Altes (born 15 May 1931) is a retired

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

politician 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 in ...

(VVD) and jurist. He was 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. In ...

on 26 October 2001. Korthals Altes attended the

Barlaeus Gymnasium The Barlaeus Gymnasium is a secondary school in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It is one of the five categorial gymnasia in Amsterdam, the other four being Vossius Gymnasium, Ignatius Gymnasium, Het 4e gymnasium and Cygnus Gymnasium. It offers a ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

from June 1937 until July 1943 and applied at the Leiden University in June 1951 majoring in

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and obtaining a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

degree in June 1953 before graduating with 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 mos ...

degree in July 1957. Korthals Altes worked as a lawyer in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

from August 1957 until November 1982. Korthals Altes served as Chairman of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy from 15 March 1975 until 22 May 1981. Korthals Altes was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1981, taking office on 10 June 1981. After the election of 1982 Korthals Altes was appointed as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in the Cabinet Lubbers I, taking office on 4 November 1982. Korthals Altes served as acting

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 ...

from 20 February 1986 until 12 March 1986 following the death of Koos Rietkerk. After the election of 1986 Korthals Altes continued as Minister of Justice in the Cabinet Lubbers II, taking office on 14 July 1986. Korthals Altes again served as acting Minister of the Interior from 26 January 1987 until 3 February 1987 during a medical leave of absence of Kees van Dijk until Minister of Social Affairs and Employment Jan de Koning took over as acting Minister of the Interior. Korthals Altes was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1986, taking office on 14 September 1989. The Cabinet Lubbers II was replaced by the Cabinet Lubbers III on 7 November 1989 and he continued to serve in the House of Representatives 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 ...

. In April 1991 Korthals Altes announced that he wanted to return to the Senate. After the Senate election of 1991 Korthals Altes was elected again as a Member of the Senate, he resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives the day he was installed as a Member of the Senate, taking office on 11 June 1991 serving as a frontbencher chairing several parliamentary committees. Korthals Altes also became active in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

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 ...

and occupied numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards (

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

KPN KPN (in full Koninklijke KPN N.V., also Royal KPN N.V.) is a Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. History Un ...

Randstad Holding Randstad NV, commonly known as Randstad and stylized as randstad, is a Dutch multinational human resource consulting firm headquartered in Diemen, Netherlands. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1960 by Frits Goldschmeding and operates in ...

, Arcadis, Carnegie Foundation,

Stichting INGKA Foundation The Stichting INGKA Foundation is a Dutch foundation founded in 1982 by Ingvar Kamprad, a Swedish billionaire and founder of IKEA, and his corporate attorney Linnea Walsh. INGKA is one of the largest charitable foundations in the world and used ...

, and the Institute of International Relations Clingendael) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government. Following the Senate election of 1991 Korthals Altes was selected as

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 ...

of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in the Senate, taking office on 13 June 1995. Korthals Altes was nominated as President of the Senate following the appointed of

Herman Tjeenk Willink Herman Diederik Tjeenk Willink (born 23 January 1942) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and jurist. He was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 21 December 2012. Tjeenk Willink served as a Member of the S ...

Vice-President of the Council of State The vice-president of the Council of State ( nl, Vice-President van de Raad van State) is the ''de facto'' presiding officer of the Council of State. The monarch serves as the ''ex officio'' president of the Council of State but in reality seldo ...

, taking office on 11 March 1997. In September 2001 Korthals Altes announced his retirement from national politics. He resigned as President of the Senate and a Member of the Senate on 2 October 2001.

Biography

Early life

Frederik Korthals Altes was born on 15 May 1931 in

. He worked as a lawyer from 1957 until 1982.

Politics

After the second Lubbers cabinet fell because of a parliamentary

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...

by the VVD faction, new elections were called, and Korthals Altes was elected to the Dutch House of Representatives. In 1991, he was elected back again to the Dutch Senate, where he became a Chairman of the Senate in 1997. From 1990 to 1997, he was also practising law again, with the Dutch firm Nauta Dutilh. With his resignation from the senate in 2001, he was nominated as Minister of State. Earlier in 1997, the VVD gave him an honorary membership. From 1997 until 2001, he was President of the Senate. The Dutch Queen nominated Korthals Altes, alongside Rein Jan Hoekstra (CDA), as '' informateur'', after a first round of talks between the CDA and Labour Party (PvdA) to form a new cabinet failed. The

second Balkenende cabinet The second Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 27 May 2003 until 7 July 2006. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the conservative-liberal Peo ...

between the VVD, CDA and D66, was installed in May 2003. Korthals Altes chaired a commission in 2007 that looked into the Dutch election process. The final report of the commission advised the government to abandon electronic voting machines, as they lack a paper trail.

Honours and appointments

Appointments

with style of ''

Excellency Excellency is an honorific style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder usually retains the right ...

'' (26 October 2001)

National

Order of Orange-Nassau ribbon - Commander

Commander of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

(20 November 1989) * Order of Orange-Nassau ribbon - Officer

Officer of the

(13 May 1981)

Foreign

*: Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (6 July 1986) *: ** Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (28 February 2000) ** Grand Officer of the Order of Legion of Honour (6 February 1984) *: Grand Cross 1st Class of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

(30 May 1985) *: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure (12 May 2000) *: Grand Cross of the

Order of the Oak Crown The Order of the Oak Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne de chêne, german: Eichenlaubkronenorden, lb, Eechelaafkrounenuerden) is an order of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. History The Order of the Oak Crown was established in 1841 by Gran ...

(15 November 1983) *: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (2 October 1989) *: Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

(1 December 1998)

Other memberships

*: Honorary Member of the

(23 May 1997)

References

External links

;Official *
Mr. F. (Frits) Korthals Altes
Parlement & Politiek *
Mr. F. Korthals Altes (VVD)
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