Aäron "Arie" Pais (16 April 1930 – 25 June 2022) was a Dutch politician of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

(VVD) and economist.

Early life and education

Pais was of

Jewish descent ''Zera Yisrael'' (), also known as ''Zera Kadosh'' (), is a legal category in ''Halakha'' that denotes the blood descendants of Jews who, for one reason or another, are not legally Jewish according to religious criteria. This is usually due to a ...

. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he attended from 1942 on his secondary education at gymnasium level at the Jewish Lyceum in Amsterdam. Due to persecutions of the Jewish population during this war, he went into hiding with his family in Barneveld and thus survived the war. After the war, Pais continued his secondary education at the

Vossius Gymnasium Vossius Gymnasium is a public gymnasium in Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in J ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

between 1945 and 1948, and then studied at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

where he received his doctorandus degree (equivalent to MSc) in

social economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyse ...

in 1954. After this study, Pais was appointed as a researcher at this university where he subsequently obtained his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

(PhD) in

economic sciences Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyses ...

in 1973.

Career

Pais worked as a financial analyst for the

KPN Koninklijke KPN N.V. (Royal KPN N.V. in English), trading as KPN is a Dutch List of telephone operating companies, telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterda ...

from July 1958 until April 1974. Pais served on the

Municipal Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of Amsterdam from September 1958 until December 1961 and served on the Provincial-Council of

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

from June 1970 until July 1970. Pais worked as a professor of

Public economics Public economics ''(or economics of the public sector)'' is the study of government policy through the lens of economic efficiency and Equity (economics), equity. Public economics builds on the theory of welfare economics and is ultimately used as ...

at the

from April 1974 until 19 December 1977 Pais was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1977, taking office on 20 September 1977 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 know ...

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

Finances Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and discipline of money, currency, assets and liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business Administration wich study the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of an o ...

. After the election of 1977 Pais was appointed as Minister of Education and Sciences in the Cabinet Van Agt-Wiegel, taking office on 19 December 1977. In January 1981 Pais announced that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1981 but wanted to return to the Senate. After the Senate election of 1981 Pais returned as a Member of the Senate, taking office on 25 August 1981. The Cabinet Van Agt-Wiegel was replaced by the Cabinet Van Agt II following the cabinet formation of 1981 on 11 September 1981 and he continued to serve in the Senate serving a frontbencher chairing the parliamentary committee for Finances and spokesperson for Finances.

Personal life

He was married to Dutch politician and diplomat Eegje Schoo from 1970 until his death. Pais died in 2022 at the age of 92.Oud-minister van Onderwijs Arie Pais overleden, zaterdag 2 juli 2022
- website

parlement.com The (PDC; ), is an institute connected to Leiden University that documents the parliamentary history of the Netherlands. It is part of the Montesquieu Institute on Campus The Hague, and situated at Lange Voorhout 86. Its function is to collec ...

Honours

References

External links

;Official *
Dr. A. (Arie) Pais
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Pais, Arie 1930 births 2022 deaths Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Dutch academic administrators Dutch autobiographers Dutch bankers Dutch corporate directors Dutch education writers Dutch expatriates in Luxembourg Dutch memoirists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch Sephardi Jews Dutch people of Portuguese-Jewish descent Dutch people of World War II Jewish Dutch politicians Jewish educators Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Ministers of education of the Netherlands Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Municipal councillors of Amsterdam Politicians from The Hague People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Dutch Reform Jews University of Amsterdam alumni Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam 20th-century Dutch economists 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians 20th-century Sephardi Jews 21st-century Dutch male writers Sephardi Reform Jews