Anthony Ernst Mary Duynstee (original spelling Duijnstee; 24 December 1920 – 9 May 2014), known as Bob Duynstee, was a Dutch politician who served as 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 ...

of the Netherlands between 1956 and 1967 and as State Secretary for Defence for the

Royal Netherlands Air Force The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF; , "Royal Air Force") is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was created in 1953 to succeed its predecessor, the ''Luchtvaartafdeling'' () of the Dutch Army, which was founded ...

in the

De Jong cabinet The De Jong cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Dutch Government from 5 April 1967 until 6 July 1971. The cabinet was formed by the Christian democracy, christ ...

of 1967–71. He was a member of the

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party (, KVP) was a Roman Catholicism in the Netherlands, Catholic Christian democracy, Christian democratic list of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as ...

Career

Bremen was born on 24 December 1920 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 June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, the son of a banker. He attended

Clongowes Wood College Clongowes Wood College SJ is a Catholic voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814. It features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel '' A Portrait of the Artist ...

in Dublin, Ireland to study between 1939-41. With World II unfolding in continental Europe, Duynstee was asked in August 1940 to be part of the

Princess Irene Brigade During the Second World War, the Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade, later known as the Princess Irene Brigade () was a Dutch military unit initially formed from approximately 1,500 troops, including a small group guarding German prison ...

which he did. In 1941 he was sent with around 90 fellow Dutchmen to

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

, at that time a Dutch colony. In Suriname he was involved in the guarding of interned Germans and members of the NSB. By 1944 he had reached the rank of sergeant and returned to Western Europe. After the war had ended Duynstee resumed his studies in Ireland. He earned a Bachelor of Commerce at the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) () is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universities Act 1908, and signifi ...

in 1947 after having studied two years. The same year he earned a Master of Economic Science at the same university. He wrote his thesis on "Keynes theory of full employment and public finance". In 1948 he joined the then newly founded

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

where he headed the office for Scandinavian countries until 1952. Afterwards he went to work for Dutch airline

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),

, to head the office for international cooperation between 1952 and 1956. Duynstee was a member of the Catholic National Party until 1955. In the general election of 1956 Duynstee was elected to the

for the

. In the general election of 1967 he was up for re-election but did not win a seat. He however was made State Secretary for Defence for the

in the

cabinet 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 ...

Piet de Jong Petrus Jozef Sietse "Piet" de Jong (; 3 April 1915 – 27 July 2016) was a Dutch politician and naval officer who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1967 to 1971. He was a member of the Catholic People's Party (KVP), later merged ...

. In the general election of 1971 he was once again not elected. Between 1962 and 1967 he was member of the Defence Committee of the

Assembly of the Western European Union The Assembly of the Western European Union, also called the European Security and Defence Assembly, was a parliamentary assembly for delegations from the national parliaments of the member countries of the Western European Union (WEU), a securit ...

. In the Committee he reported on the possibilities of a European nuclear force. On 29 April 1966 he was made Knight in the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch honours system, Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion wa ...

, and on 17 July 1971 he was made Commander in the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

. He died on 9 May 2014 in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

References

External links

*
Parlement.com biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duynstee, Bob 1920 births 2014 deaths Alumni of the National University of Ireland OECD officials Catholic People's Party politicians Catholic National Party politicians Dutch traditionalist Catholics Dutch Roman Catholics Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Politicians from Amsterdam Royal Netherlands Army personnel of World War II State secretaries for defence of the Netherlands People educated at Clongowes Wood College