Jan Eduard de Quay (26 August 1901 – 4 July 1985) was a Dutch politician of the defunct

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party ( nl, Katholieke Volkspartij, KVP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as a continuation of the Roman Catholic State Party, which was a continuation of ...

(KVP) now 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-Revolution ...

(CDA) party and psychologist who served as

Prime Minister of the Netherlands The prime minister of the Netherlands ( nl, Minister-president van Nederland) is the head of the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands. Although the monarch is the ''de jure'' head of government, the prime minister ''de facto'' ...

from 19 May 1959 until 24 July 1963. De Quay studied Applied psychology and

Literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

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

Master of Psychology The Master of Psychology (often abbreviated Psy.M. or M.Psych.) is a master's degree in the field of Psychology. Australia In Australia, the ''MPsych'' title is usually associated with a specialization, such as ''MPsych (Clinical)'' or ''MPsych ( ...

and

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degree's followed by a postgraduate education in Clinical Psychology at the Stanford University obtaining a

Master of Social Science A Master of Social Science (MSocSc, MSSc or MSS) is a master's degree which has a number of different meanings dependent upon the education system in question. Europe In Finland and Sweden, where the university degree nomenclatura is simply bas ...

degree and worked as a researcher and associate professor of Applied psychology at the

University of Tilburg Tilburg University is a public research university specializing in the social and behavioral sciences, economics, law, business sciences, theology and humanities, located in Tilburg in the southern part of the Netherlands. Tilburg University has ...

from September 1927 until August 1939 before finishing his

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

at his alma and graduated as a Doctor of Psychology in Applied psychology and worked as a professor of Applied psychology, business administration and business theory at the University of Tilburg from March 1933 until August 1939. De Quay also served as Rector Magnificus of the University from January 1938 until January 1939. During

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

De Quay was co-founder of the controversial Dutch Union in July 1940 but the organisation was disbanded by the German occupation authority in December 1941. Shortly before the end of the

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

De Quay was appointed as

Minister of War A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

in the Cabinet Gerbrandy III, the last

government-in-exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a Sovereign state, country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Govern ...

taking office on 4 April 1945. After a cabinet formation De Quay wasn't included in the new cabinet. De Quay continued to be active in politics and in September 1946 was nominated as the next Queen's Commissioner of North Brabant taking office on 1 November 1946. After the election of 1959 De Quay was persuaded to lead a new cabinet. Following a successful cabinet formation De Quay formed the Cabinet De Quay and became

taking office on 19 May 1959. Before the election of 1963 De Quay indicated that he wouldn't serve another term as Prime Minister or not stand for the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

. De Quay left office following the installation of the Cabinet Marijnen on 24 July 1963. De Quay was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1963 taking office on 25 June 1963 serving 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 Foreign Affairs. After a political crisis De Quay was appointed as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

and Minister of Transport and Water Management in the

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Caretaker'' (film), a 1963 adaptation of the play ''The Caretaker'' * '' The Caretakers'', a 1963 American film set in a mental hospital * Caretaker, a character in the 1974 film '' ...

Cabinet Zijlstra taking office on 22 November 1966. Shortly thereafter De Quay announced that he would decline to serve in new cabinet and returned to the Senate serving from 13 June 1967 until 16 September 1969. De Quay retired from active politics at 68 and became active in the private 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. De Quay was known for his abilities as an effective

team leader A team leader is a person who provides guidance, instruction, direction and leadership to a group of individuals (the team) for the purpose of achieving a key result or group of aligned results. Team leaders serves as the steering wheel for a group ...

and consensus builder. During his premiership, his cabinet was responsible for major reforms to the

education system The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...

, the

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

and dealing with several major crises such as the

West New Guinea dispute The West New Guinea dispute (1950–1962), also known as the West Irian dispute, was a diplomatic and political conflict between the Netherlands and Indonesia over the territory of Dutch New Guinea. While the Netherlands had ceded sovereignty ov ...

. De Quay withdrew from public life and lived in retirement until his death in July 1985 at the age of 83. He holds the distinction as the leading the first cabinet to have completed a full term after World War II and his premiership is consistently regarded both by scholars and the public to have been average.

Biography

Early life

Jan Eduard de Quay was born in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

on 26 August 1901. After attending a Jesuit school in

Katwijk Katwijk (), also spelled Katwyk, is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland, which is situated in the mid-western part of the Netherlands. The Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine") river flows through the town and into the North Se ...

, he graduated in psychology from the

University of Utrecht 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 ...

in 1926. The following year he was awarded a doctorate for his thesis on the contribution of sensory and motor factors to the learning and labour process. In 1928 he was appointed lecturer in psychotechnology at the Catholic college of higher education in Tilburg (now the

) and in 1933 professor of business economics and psychotechnology at the same institution. During the pre-war mobilisation of the Netherlands (1939-1940) De Quay became a lieutenant in the reserve. In July 1940 he formed the Triumvirate of the controversial nationalist Dutch Union with Louis Einthoven and

Hans Linthorst Homan Johannes (Hans) Linthorst Homan (17 February 1903 – 6 November 1986) was a Dutch politician and diplomat. He was born in Assen to the patrician Linthorst Homan family, the son of Jan Tijmens Linthorst Homan. He studied law in Leiden, and star ...

. This Union was controversial because its leaders suggested partial collaboration with the German occupiers. In August 1940 De Quay started secret meetings with the fascistic Nationaal Front in oder to fuse the two organisations. During these talks De Quay called himself a fascist, the Union a fascistic organisation and said that he rejected democracy. In May and June of the same year he was government commissioner for labour at the

Ministry of Social Affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of ...

. In this position he encouraged the Dutch population to seek employment in Germany. From July 1942 to June 1943 he was interned in Haaren, after which he went into hiding from the occupation authorities. This lasted until June 1943, when he went into hiding. Following the liberation of the area south of the rivers in late 1944, he became chairman of the Board of Commissioners for Agriculture, Industry, Trade and Commerce set up to restore the national economy.

Politics

From 5 April until 23 June 1945, De Quay was

in the second Gerbrandy cabinet. On 1 November 1946 he became Queen's Commissioner of

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the w ...

until 19 May 1959. He served as

from 19 May 1959 until 24 July 1963. The free Saturday was introduced (for civil servants, in 1961), as well as laws for education ( mammoetwet),

unemployment benefit Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...

(bijstandwet) and

child benefit Child benefit or children's allowance is a social security payment which is distributed to the parents or guardians of children, teenagers and in some cases, young adult (psychology), young adults. A number of countries operate different versions o ...

(kinderbijslagwet).

Natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

was discovered in

Slochteren Slochteren () is a village and former municipality with a population of 15,546 in the province of Groningen (province), Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. On 1 January 2018, Slochteren merged with Hoogezand-Sappemeer and Menterwolde, f ...

, which would later turn out to be one of the biggest gas reserves in the world and a major source of income for the Netherlands in the decades to come. On 23 December 1960 the cabinet fell over extra public housing (woningwetwoningen), but

Gaius de Gaay Fortman Wilhelm Friedrich "Gaius" de Gaay Fortman (8 May 1911 – 29 March 1997) was a Dutch jurist and politician of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP), which later merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party. De Gaay Fortman attended a ...

reconciled matters and the cabinet resumed on 2 January 1961. In August/September 1962,

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

was handed over to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, under supervision of the UN. Shortly after the installation of the new government, minister of defence Ven den Bergh resigned for personal reasons (family affairs with his

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

wife and children). In 1962, the new minister of defence Visser also had to resign after protests against his dismissal of a critical civil servant. In 1961 minister Van Rooy of social affairs resigned after criticism of how he dealt with the new child benefit law. His post was taken over by former state secretary Veldkamp, whose now vacant former position in turn was taken over by Gijzels. In 1963, a proposal to install commercial television was not accepted. He served as a Member of the Senate from 25 June 1963 until 22 November 1966. During the Cabinet Zijlstra he served as Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management and

from 22 November 1966 until 5 April 1967. On 13 June 1967 he again was a Member of the Senate until 16 September 1969.

Personal life

On 8 August 1927, De Quay married Maria van der Lande (29 August 1901 – 6 November 1988). De Quay died on 4 July 1985 in

Beers Beers may refer to: * plural of beer, an alcoholic beverage * Beers (surname) * Beers, Friesland, a Dutch place in the Friesland municipality of Littenseradiel * Beers, North Brabant Beers (Brabants: ''Bèèrs'') is a village in the former Dutc ...

, he was 83.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Dr. J.E. (Jan) de Quay
Parlement & Politiek *
Dr. J.E. de Quay (KVP)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal *
Kabinet-De Quay
Rijksoverheid {{DEFAULTSORT:Quay, Jan de 1901 births 1985 deaths Catholic People's Party politicians Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Deputy Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Dutch academic administrators Dutch business theorists Dutch business writers Dutch education writers Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch management consultants Dutch people of World War II Dutch political party founders Dutch prisoners of war in World War II Dutch psychologists Dutch Roman Catholics Dutch science writers Dutch sociologists Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau King's and Queen's Commissioners of North Brabant Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Ministers of Defence of the Netherlands Ministers of General Affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of Transport and Water Management of the Netherlands Ministers of War of the Netherlands People from Cuijk People from 's-Hertogenbosch Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Psychology writers Rectors of universities in the Netherlands Roman Catholic State Party politicians Royal Netherlands Army officers Royal Netherlands Army personnel of World War II Stanford University alumni Tilburg University faculty Utrecht University alumni Utrecht University faculty World War II civilian prisoners World War II prisoners of war held by Germany 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians 20th-century Dutch scientists 20th-century psychologists