Sicco Leendert Mansholt (; 13 September 1908 – 29 June 1995) was a Dutch farmer, politician and diplomat of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later the Labour Party (PvdA), who served as the President of the European Commission from 1 March 1972 until 5 January 1973. Mansholt worked as a farmer in

Wieringermeer Wieringermeer () is a former municipality and a polder in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Since 2012 Wieringermeer has been a part of the new municipality of Hollands Kroon. Population centres The former municipality of Wie ...

from 1937 until 1945. In 1940, during World War II, he joined the Dutch resistance against the German occupiers and helped shelter refugees. Following the end of World War II, Mansholt was appointed as acting Mayor of Wieringermeer, serving from 30 April 1945 until 22 May 1945. After the end of the German occupation,

Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...

ordered the formation of a Cabinet of National unity to serve as a caretaker government and make preparations for a new

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 ...

, and Mansholt was appointed as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies in the Cabinet Schermerhorn–Drees, taking office on 25 June 1945. Mansholt was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1946, taking office on 4 June 1946. He continued as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies in the Cabinet Beel I, taking office on 3 July 1946, then served as acting Minister of Economic Affairs from 14 January 1948 until 20 January 1948 following the resignation of

Gerardus Huysmans Gerardus Wilhelmus Maria Huijsmans (later known as Huysmans) (29 April 1902 – 18 March 1948) was a Dutch politician. Huijsmans was born in Eindhoven. He was Dutch Minister for Finance in 1945 and Minister of the Economy from 1946 to 194 ...

. After the election of 1948 Mansholt returned as a Member of the House of Representatives on 27 July 1948, and continued as Minister in the Cabinet Drees–Van Schaik, taking office on 7 August 1948. Mansholt served continuously as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies in the Drees Cabinets I, II and III, and also served as a Member of the House of Representatives after the elections of 1952 and

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

, serving from 15 July 1952 until 7 September 1952 and from 3 July 1956 until 3 October 1956. In December 1957 Mansholt was nominated as the first European Commissioner from the Netherlands in the First Hallstein Commission. Lardinois was giving the portfolio of

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

and was appointed as the first

Vice-President of the European Commission A Vice-President of the European Commission is a member of the European Commission who leads the commission's work in particular focus areas in which multiple European Commissioners participate. Currently, the European Commission has a total of ...

. He resigned as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies on 1 January 1958 and the First Hallstein Commission was installed on 7 January 1958. Mansholt continued to serve as European Commissioner for Agriculture and Vice-President in the Second Hallstein Commission, the

Rey Commission The Rey Commission is the European Commission that held office from 2 July 1967 to 30 June 1970. Its president was Jean Rey. Work It was the first commission of the merged European Communities. It was the successor to the Hallstein Commission a ...

and the

Malfatti Commission The Malfatti Commission is the European Commission that held office from 1 July 1970 to 21 March 1972. Its president was Franco Maria Malfatti. Work It was the successor to the Rey Commission and was succeeded by the Mansholt Commission. The M ...

. In February 1972 Mansholt was nominated as the next President of the European Commission. The

Mansholt Commission The Mansholt Commission is the European Commission that held office from 22 March 1972 to 5 January 1973. Its President was Sicco Mansholt. Work It was the successor to the Malfatti Commission and was succeeded by the Ortoli Commission. It ov ...

was installed on 1 March 1972 and oversaw the creation of the

European Monetary System The European Monetary System (EMS) was a multilateral adjustable exchange rate agreement in which most of the nations of the European Economic Community (EEC) linked their currencies to prevent large fluctuations in relative value. It was initiate ...

on 24 April 1972 and the first enlargement on 1 January 1973. The Mansholt Commission was succeeded by the

Ortoli Commission The Ortoli Commission is the European Commission that held office from 6 January 1973 to 5 January 1977. Its President was François-Xavier Ortoli. Work It was the successor to the Mansholt Commission and was succeeded by the Jenkins Commission ...

on 5 January 1973. After his retirement Mansholt occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director for supervisory boards for several international non-governmental organizations and research institutes ( Institute of International Relations Clingendael, European Centre for Development Policy Management, Netherlands Atlantic Association,

Transnational Institute The Transnational Institute (TNI), is an international non-profit research and advocacy think tank that was founded in 1974, Amsterdam, Netherlands. According to their website, the organization promotes a "... just, democratic and sustainable wor ...

, Club of Rome, Humanistic Association, Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities and the Carnegie Foundation) and as an advocate and lobbyist for European integration and

humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and Agency (philosophy), agency of Human, human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical in ...

. He was known for his abilities as a negotiator and

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 activities ...

. Mansholt continued to comment on political affairs as an elder statesman until his death. He holds the distinction of being the longest-serving Minister of Agriculture, the longest-serving European Commissioner from the Netherlands, the longest-serving European Commissioner for Agriculture and the only Dutchman to have served as President of the European Commission. He is recognized as one of the

Founding fathers of the European Union The founding fathers of the European Union are men who are considered to be major contributors to European unity and the development of what is now the European Union. The number and list of the founding fathers of the EU varies depending on the ...

Early life and studies

Sicco Leendert Mansholt was born on 13 September 1908 in

Ulrum Ulrum () is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Het Hogeland. History The first time the town was named was as ''Uluringhem'' in the 11th century. Ulrum is sited on two mounds. On the western one st ...

, in the province of Groningen, Netherlands.Dr. S.L. (Sicco) Mansholt
Parlement & Politiek. Retrieved on 10 February 2014. Mansholt came from a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

farmer's family in the province of Groningen. Both his father and grandfather were supporters of early socialist leaders such as

Multatuli Eduard Douwes Dekker (2 March 182019 February 1887), better known by his pen name Multatuli (from Latin ''multa tulī'', "I have suffered much"), was a Dutch writer best known for his satirical novel '' Max Havelaar'' (1860), which denounced the ...

Domela Nieuwenhuis Ferdinand Jacobus Domela Nieuwenhuis (31 December 1846 – 18 November 1919) was a Dutch socialist politician and later a social anarchist and anti-militarist. He was a Lutheran preacher who, after he lost his faith, started a political fight ...

, and Troelstra. His father, Lambertus H. Mansholt, was a delegate for the socialist

SDAP SDAP may refer to: * Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands), a Dutch political party founded in 1894 that later merged into the Labour Party (Netherlands) * Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany The Social Democratic Workers' Party o ...

party in the Groningen provincial chamber. His mother, Wabien Andreae, daughter of a judge in

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, fry, It Hearrenfean ) is a town and municipality in the province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the municipality had a population 50,859 (1 July). ...

, was one of the first women to have studied Political Science. She organised political meetings for other women, usually in their own homes. Together with two brothers and two sisters, Mansholt was raised at "Huis ter Aa", a grand villa in

Glimmen Glimmen is a village in the northeastern Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Groningen, about 10 kilometres from the city. It had a population of around 1,342 in 2021. The river Drentsche Aa flows past the village, nearby the ''Huis ...

. He attended the HBS-school in Groningen and after that went to Deventer, to the School of Tropical Agriculture, where he studied to become a tobacco farmer.

Agriculture

He moved to

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

in the Dutch East Indies (present-day

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 ...

), and started work on a tea

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

. He returned to the Netherlands in 1936, unhappy with the colonial system. He wanted to become a farmer and moved to the

, a polder, reclaimed in 1937. There he started his own farm. He married Henny J. Postel in 1938, and they had two sons and two daughters. In the years of World War II he was an active member of the Resistance. He helped people who were in acute danger to hide in the Wieringermeerpolder; he organised clandestine food distributions for the western provinces. Aankomst Hoover, Bestanddeelnr 901-6394

Politics

Local politics

Mansholt became a member of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) in 1937, as a secretary of the local party. He had several public functions for the SDAP in Wieringermeer, including that of acting mayor of the Wieringermeer community.

Minister of Agriculture

Immediately after the war, in June 1945, Labour Party (PvdA) Prime Minister Schermerhorn asked him to take a seat in his cabinet as minister of Agriculture, Fishery and Food Distribution. He was the youngest member of a cabinet, aged only 36. He was a member of six cabinets in total: Schermerhorn-Drees in 1945; Beel in 1946; Drees-Van Schaik in 1948, and the three Drees administrations: 1951, 1952 and 1956. As Minister of Agriculture during this time, he was one of the key architects of the EC's

Common Agricultural Policy The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the agricultural policy of the European Union. It implements a system of agricultural subsidies and other programmes. It was introduced in 1962 and has since then undergone several changes to reduce the ...

. In 1954 the parliamentary debate about the budget for the Department of Agriculture was postponed: the Minister was ice-skating the 200 kilometer long

Elfstedentocht The ''Elfstedentocht'' (; West Frisian: ''Alvestêdetocht'' , English: ''Eleven cities tour'') is a long-distance tour skating event on natural ice, almost long, which is held both as a speed skating competition (with 300 contestants) and a lei ...

in the Dutch province of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

, which he skated twice in his life.

European Commission

In 1958, he became one of the Commissioners of the new

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

. He was Commissioner for Agriculture and vice-president of the institution. He modernized European agriculture. The Mansholt Plan was opposed by E. F. Schumacher in his book ''

Small Is Beautiful ''Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered'' is a collection of essays published in 1973 by German-born British economist E. F. Schumacher. The title "Small Is Beautiful" came from a principle espoused by Schumach ...

''. He became President of the European Commission on 22 March 1972 (the

) and continued in that position until 5 January 1973. It was around that time he was heavily under the influence of the Club of Rome.

Life after politics

Mansholt published his autobiography ''De Crisis'' ("The Crisis") in 1974. He lived his last years in an old historic farm in the quiet village of Wapserveen, where he died on 29 June 1995. His daughter Lideke also died in 1995, aged 53.

Decorations

Honorary degrees

References

External links

;Official *
Dr. S.L. (Sicco) Mansholt
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Mansholt, Sicco 1908 births 1995 deaths Cold War diplomats Commanders of the Order of Agricultural Merit Dutch agnostics Dutch agronomists Dutch European Commissioners Dutch expatriates in Belgium Dutch expatriates in Indonesia Dutch farmers Dutch humanists Dutch lobbyists Dutch people of World War II Dutch resistance members European integration pioneers European Union and agriculture European Union lobbyists First Vice-Presidents of the European Commission Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Mayors in North Holland People from Wieringermeer Ministers of Agriculture of the Netherlands Ministers of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) People from De Marne People from Westerveld Presidents of the European Commission Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Recipients of the Resistance Memorial Cross Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands) politicians 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch diplomats 20th-century Dutch politicians European Commissioners 1958–1962 European Commissioners 1962–1967 European Commissioners 1967–1970 European Commissioners 1970–1972 European Commissioners 1972–1973 20th-century agronomists