Victor Gerard Marie Marijnen (21 February 1917 – 5 April 1975) 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 jurist 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 24 July 1963 until 14 April 1965. Marijnen studied

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 ...

at the

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century ...

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 mos ...

degree followed by a postgraduate education in Agricultural economics at the Rotterdam School of Economics where he obtained a

Bachelor of Economics The Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon), or the "Bachelor of Applied Economics", is a bachelor's degree awarded by many universities and colleges for completion of an undergraduate program in economics, econometrics, or applied economics; th ...

degree. Marijnen worked as a civil servant for the Ministries of Economic Affairs and Agriculture and Fisheries from August 1941 until November 1957 and as a trade association executive for the Christian Farmers and Gardeners association (CBTB) February 1949 until April 1951 and for the Catholic Employers association (AKWV) from November 1957 until May 1959. After the election of 1959 Marijnen was appointed as

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom cabinet position, responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The post was originally named President of the Board of Agriculture and was created in 1889. ...

in the Cabinet De Quay taking office on 19 May 1959. After the election of 1963 Marijnen was asked to

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

a new cabinet and following a successful cabinet formation formed the Cabinet Marijnen and became

taking office on 24 July 1963. The cabinet fell just 19 months into its term and he wasn't offered a post in the new cabinet. Marijnen left office following the installation of the Cabinet Cals on 14 April 1965 but returned as a Member of the House of Representatives serving from 27 April 1965 until his resignation on 14 January 1966 as a backbencher. Marijnen also became active in the

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 ...

as a non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government. Marijnen continued to be active in politics and in September 1968 was nominated as the next

Mayor of The Hague Below is a list of mayors of The Hague since it was decided in 1824 that only one mayor at a time would govern the city. List 1824–1956 1957–present : : : : See also * Timeline of The Hague References {{Reflist The Hague The H ...

taking office on 16 October 1968. On 5 April 1975 Marijnen died after suffering a fatal

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

at his home at the age of just 58. Marijnen 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 activities ...

and effective consensus builder. During his premiership, his cabinet were responsible for several major reforms to health insurance, the

public broadcasting system The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

and dealing with the fallout of the marriage between Princess Irene and

carlist Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – ...

Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma. He holds the distinction as the last Prime Minister to have served as Mayor and his premiership is consistently regarded both by scholars and the public to have been below average.I&O Research
I&O Research, 13 March 2020

Biography

Early life

Victor Gerard Marie Marijnen was born in

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

on 21 February 1917. In 1941 he graduated in law from the

and went on to work in the accountancy divisions of the

Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality , type = Department , logo = Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit Logo.png , logo_width = 250x250px , logo_caption = Logo of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality , image = ...

. In 1945 he was seconded to the Council for the Restitution of Legal Rights. In 1949 Marijnen became secretary of the Agricultural Society and in 1951 Secretary-General of the Foreign Agricultural Trade Department of the

. From 1957 he was secretary of the General Catholic Employers Association and the Catholic Federation of Employers Associations.

Accusations regarding priests

In 1956 Marijnen was chairman of a children's home in

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 ...

where children, including Henk Heithuis, were

sexually abused Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...

by priests. According to the ''Telegraph'' newspaper, reporting in March 2012, he "intervened to have prison sentences dropped against several priests convicted of abusing children." The Dutch Catholic Church organised the

castration Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharma ...

of Heithuis while he lived at the Gelderland children's home in 1956 after he reported being sexually abused to the police.

Politics

In the De Quay cabinet, Marijnen was

. He served as

from 24 July 1963 until 14 April 1965. The

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 ...

reserves, recently found 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 ...

were a considerable boost for the economy. This, combined with

labour shortage In economics, a shortage or excess demand is a situation in which the demand for a product or service exceeds its supply in a market. It is the opposite of an excess supply (surplus). Definitions In a perfect market (one that matches a ...

led to a rise in wages and the attraction of foreign workers. Despite this being the second cabinet without socialist Labour Party, the building up of a

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equita ...

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

, continued with the introduction of minimum wages in 1964 and the

national health service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

. In 1965, measures were taken against

commercial television Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship. It was the United States′ first model of radio (a ...

stations transmitting from the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

. The cabinet finally fell over the issue if commercial TV should be allowed in the Netherlands. From 1965 to 1966 Marijnen was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and concurrently chairman of the Board of the Rijnmond Authority. In 1967 he was also appointed chairman of the Post and Telecommunications Council. On 16 October 1968 he was selected

. Marijnen died on 5 April 1975 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, while serving as Mayor from a

at the age of 58.

Decorations

References

External links

*
Mr. V.G.M. (Victor) Marijnen
Parlement & Politiek *
Kabinet-Marijnen
Rijksoverheid {{DEFAULTSORT:Marijnen, Victor 1917 births 1975 deaths Agricultural economists Catholic People's Party politicians Dutch academic administrators Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch people of World War II Dutch trade association executives Dutch Roman Catholics Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Mayors of The Hague Ministers of Agriculture of the Netherlands Ministers of General Affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of Health of the Netherlands Ministers of Social Affairs of the Netherlands Fisheries ministers of the Netherlands Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Social and Economic Council Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Radboud University Nijmegen alumni Radboud University Nijmegen faculty People from Arnhem 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch economists 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch politicians