Barend Willem Biesheuvel (; 5 April 1920 – 29 April 2001) was a Dutch politician of the

Anti-Revolutionary Party The Anti-Revolutionary Party (, ARP) was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and minister who served as Prime Mi ...

(ARP) and jurist who served as

Prime Minister of the Netherlands The prime minister of the Netherlands () or, before 1945, the chairman of the Council of Ministers () is the ''de facto'' head of government of the Netherlands.''Grondwet voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden'' onstitution of the Kingdom of the N ...

from 6 July 1971 until 11 May 1973. Biesheuvel studied law at the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public university, public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in ...

obtaining a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree and worked as a civil servant for the

provincial executive The provincial executive (, GS) is the executive branch of government of a province in the Netherlands. It is the equivalent of the municipal executive at the provincial level. The provincial executive consists of the King's Commissioner (chair) ...

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 September 1945 until January 1952 and as trade association executive for the Christian Farmers and Gardeners Association (CBTB) from January 1952 until July 1959 and as chairman from August 1956. Biesheuvel became a member of the

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

shortly after the number of seats was raised from 100 to 150 seats following the 1956 general election, taking office on 6 November 1956. He served 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 for agriculture, local government affairs and Kingdom relations. Biesheuvel was also selected as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

, taking office on 7 March 1961. After party leader Sieuwert Bruins Slot announced his retirement Biesheuvel served as one of the

lead candidate In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the candidate placed first on a party list. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government, and the party chair or party leader. Usage by country Neth ...

s for the 1963 general election, and following the election, he was selected as party leader and

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 legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...

on 5 June 1963. Following a

cabinet formation Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

, Biesheuvel was appointed as

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

and

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 ...

with the responsibility for Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs in the

Marijnen cabinet The Marijnen cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 24 July 1963 until 14 April 1965. The cabinet was a continuation of the previous De Quay cabinet and was formed by the Christian democracy, Christian democratic Catholic People's Party ...

taking office on 24 July 1963. The cabinet fell on 27 February 1965 and was replaced by the

Cals cabinet The Cals cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Dutch Government from 14 April 1965 until 22 November 1966. The cabinet was formed by the Christian democracy, christian-democratic Catholic P ...

, with Biesheuvel continuing his offices. This cabinet in turn fell on 14 October 1966 and was replaced by the

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Occupations * Janitor (chiefly in the United States), a person who cleans and maintains buildings such as hospitals and schools * Property caretaker, a person who cares for a property * Caregiver or carer (UK), a person wh ...

Zijlstra cabinet The Zijlstra cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Dutch Government from 22 November 1966 until 5 April 1967. The cabinet was formed by the Christian democracy, christian-democratic Catholi ...

, with Biesheuvel again retaining his functions. For the 1967 general election Biesheuvel served as lead candidate, but following a difficult

failed to achieve a coalition and returned to the House of Representatives as parliamentary leader taking office on 23 February 1967. For the 1971 general election, Biesheuvel again served as lead candidate, and after a successful

formed the Biesheuvel I cabinet, becoming

on 6 July 1971. The first Biesheuvel cabinet fell on 19 July 1972 just a year into its term and was replaced by the caretaker Biesheuvel II cabinet, with Biesheuvel continuing as Prime Minister. For the 1972 general election, Biesheuvel served once again as lead candidate, but the following

resulted in a coalition led by

Joop den Uyl Johannes Marten den Uijl (9 August 1919 – 24 December 1987), better known as Joop den Uyl (), was a Dutch politician and economist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1973 to 1977. He was a member of the Labour Party (PvdA ...

, Leader of the Labour Party. Biesheuvel left office upon the installation of the

Den Uyl cabinet The Den Uyl cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 11 May 1973 until 19 December 1977. The cabinet was formed by the social democratic Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA), the Christian democratic Catholic People's Party (KV ...

on 11 May 1973 and announced his retirement, stepping down as party leader on 15 May 1973. Biesheuvel retired from active politics at just 53 and became active in the private and public sectors as a corporate and non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government, and continued to be active as a lobbyist for the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

advocating for more

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

. Biesheuvel was known for his abilities as skilful manager and effective

Debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...

r. During his premiership, his cabinets were responsible for several major public sector reforms by stimulating further deregulation and endorsing more privatization. Biesheuvel continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death at the age of 81 from

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...

. He holds the distinction as leading the last cabinet in which the prime minister was not from the largest party in the coalition, and his premiership is consistently considered both by scholars and the public to have been below average.

Early life

Barend Willem Biesheuvel was born on 5 April 1920 in

Haarlemmerliede Haarlemmerliede is a small village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer and lies about east of Haarlem. Haarlemmerliede was a separate municipality between 1817 and 1857, when it merged wi ...

in the

Province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in a

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

family, the son of Arie Biesheuvel (born 21 January 1883 in Haarlemmerliede – died 21 May 1952 in Haarlemmerliede) and Johanna Margaretha "Antje" Troost (born 22 February 1881 in Sloten – died 12 December 1955 in Fijnaart). Biesheuvel had three brothers and two sisters. After completing his secondary education at local schools, he graduated in law at the Free University of Amsterdam in September 1945. For the next two years Biesheuvel worked in

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Alkmaar is well known fo ...

as secretary to the Food Commissioner for the Province of

. In 1947 he became secretary to the Foreign Division of the Agricultural Society (now the Agricultural Board). In 1952 Biesheuvel became general secretary of the Christian Farmers and Gardeners Association of the Netherlands (CBTB) and in 1959 chairman of that organisation. From the same year he was also a member of the Agricultural Board, the Labour Foundation and the boards of the Centrale Raifeissen Bank and Heidemij.

Politics

Between 1956 and 1963 he represented the

in the

(the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of parliament). From 1957 to 1961 he held a seat on the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe and from 1961 to 1963 in the European Parliament. In the successive administrations headed by Marijnen, Cals and Zijlstra between 24 July 1963 and 5 April 1967 he was Deputy Prime Minister with additional responsibility for matters concerning Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles, and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. In 1967 he returned to the

and became leader of the parliamentary

. During the same period he also chaired the Shipbuilding Board and the Committee on Government Information Reform. From 1971 to 1973 Biesheuvel was prime minister of the Netherlands.

After politics

Following his political career, Biesheuvel went on to occupy many other positions in the public and private sectors. Among other things, he was chairman of the supervisory board of the National Investment Bank, a member of the supervisory boards of OGEM and KLM, and chaired the working party on the

Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles (, ; ), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba (island), Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, ...

, the national advisory committee on the relationship between the electorate and policy-making, the Provisional Council for Transport, Public Works and Water Management and the Interministerial Coordinating Committee on North Sea Affairs (ICONA).

Personal life

On 22 November 1945, Biesheuvel married his longtime partner, Wilhelmina Jacoba "Mies" Meuring (born 7 August 1919). They had two daughters and one son. Mies Meuring died on 17 January 1989 at the age of 69. Barend Biesheuvel died in a hospital in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

from

on 29 April 2001 at the age of 81. Biesheuvel and his wife were buried at the main cemetery in

Bloemendaal Bloemendaal () is a municipality and town in the Western Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Bloemendaal is, together with Wassenaar, the wealthiest place in the Netherlands. It is located just west of Haa ...

.Barend Biesheuvel (81) overleden
Volkskrant, 1 May 2001

Decorations

References

External links

Mr. B.W. (Barend) Biesheuvel
Parlement & Politiek
Kabinet-Biesheuvel
Rijksoverheid {{DEFAULTSORT:Biesheuvel, Barend 1920 births 2001 deaths Anti-Revolutionary Party MEPs Anti-Revolutionary Party politicians Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Deputy prime ministers of the Netherlands Dutch bankers Dutch chief executives in the finance industry Dutch corporate directors Dutch lobbyists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch officials of the European Union Dutch trade association executives European Union lobbyists Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Leaders of the Anti-Revolutionary Party Members of the Social and Economic Council MEPs for the Netherlands 1958–1979 Ministers of agriculture of the Netherlands Ministers of general affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of kingdom relations of the Netherlands Politicians from Haarlem People from Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude Prime ministers of the Netherlands Reformed Churches Christians from the Netherlands Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch jurists Dutch MPs 1967–1971