Carl Paul Maria Romme (21 December 1896 – 16 October 1980) was a Dutch politician of the Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP) and later co-founder of the Catholic People's Party (KVP) and jurist. He was granted the honorary title of

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

on 16 December 1971.

Biography

Romme attended the

Amsterdams Lyceum The Amsterdams Lyceum is a Dutch secondary school combining ''gymnasium (school), gymnasium'' and ''Education in the Netherlands#Vwo, atheneum''. Both school types prepare students to go to university. It was established in 1917. The Amsterdams Ly ...

from June 1909 until June 1914 and applied 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 ...

in June 1914 majoring in Law and obtaining a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree before graduating with 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 in July 1919. Romme worked as a lawyer 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 ...

from September 1919 until June 1937. Romme also worked as a trade association executive for the Catholic Employers' Association from November 1919 until December 1924 and was a contributing editor for the magazines ''Het Patroonsblad'' and ''De RK Werkgever'' from February 1920 until December 1924. Romme 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 April 1921 until June 1937 and served on the

Provincial Council of North Holland The Provincial Council of North Holland (, ), also known as the States of North Holland, is the provincial council of North Holland, Netherlands. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 55 seats are distributed every four years in pro ...

from June 1935 until June 1937. Romme also became active in the private sector and public sector and occupied numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards (

Brill Publishers Brill Academic Publishers () is a Dutch international academic publisher of books, academic journals, and Bibliographic database, databases founded in 1683, making it one of the oldest publishing houses in the Netherlands. Founded in the South ...

Elsevier Elsevier ( ) is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell (journal), Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, ...

and the

Concertgebouw Concertgebouw may refer to one of the following concert halls: * Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands * Concertgebouw, Bruges, Belgium * Concertgebouw de Vereeniging, Netherlands {{disambiguation Buildings and structures disambiguation pages ...

) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Mine Council and the Council for Culture). Romme also worked as an associate professor of

labour law Labour laws (also spelled as labor laws), labour code or employment laws are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship be ...

Tilburg University Tilburg University is a Catholic research university specializing in the social and behavioral sciences, economics, law, business sciences, theology and humanities, located in Tilburg, Netherlands. Tilburg has a student population of about 19,1 ...

from 1 January 1933 until 1 January 1935 and as a distinguished professor of Labour law,

administrative law Administrative law is a division of law governing the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rulemaking (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regul ...

and

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

and at Tilburg University from 1 January 1935 until 24 June 1937. Romme 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 ...

after the resignation of Leo Guit, serving from 31 January 1933 until 9 May 1933. Romme was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

after the 1937 Senate election, taking office on 8 June 1937. After the 1937 general election, Romme was appointed as Minister of Social Affairs in the fourth Colijn cabinet, taking office on 24 June 1937. This cabinet fell on 29 June 1939 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until 1939, when it was replaced by the fifth Colijn cabinet on 25 July 1939. Romme again worked as a lawyer in Amsterdam from January 1940 until June 1946. During the

German invasion of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands (), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands (), was a military campaign, part of Case Yellow (), the Nazi German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and Fran ...

on 10 May 1940, the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

fled to London to escape German occupation. During

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 ...

Romme continued to work as a lawyer. In December 1941 Romme was arrested and detained in Amsterdam and was released in January 1942. On 4 May 1942 Romme was arrested again and detained in Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel but was released four days later on 7 May 1942. Following the end of World War II, Romme became actively involved in politics again, and was one of the primary initiators for reforming the Roman Catholic State Party. On 22 December 1945 the party was renamed as the Catholic People's Party, and as one of its co-founders, Romme was selected as the first Leader of the Catholic People's Party and the lead candidate of the party for the 1946 general election on 10 January 1946. The Catholic People's Party had 31 seats in the House of House of Representatives previously held by the Roman Catholic State Party and won slightly, gaining one seat. It remained the largest party and now had 32 seats in the House of Representatives. Romme was elected again to the House of Representatives and became his party's

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. ...

in the House on 4 June 1946. Romme served continuously as party leader and parliamentary leader for the next 15 years and was lead candidate for the

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

and 1959 general elections.

Decorations

Honorary degrees

References

External links

Mr.Dr. C.P.M. (Carl) Romme
Parlement & Politiek
Mr. C.P.M. Romme (RKSP)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal {{DEFAULTSORT:Romme, Carl 1896 births 1980 deaths Lawyers from Amsterdam Catholic People's Party politicians Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Dutch academic administrators Dutch columnists Dutch corporate directors Dutch legal writers Dutch magazine editors Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch political commentators Dutch political party founders Dutch prisoners of war in World War II Dutch Roman Catholics Dutch scholars of constitutional law Dutch trade association executives General League of Roman Catholic Caucuses politicians Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Grand Crosses of the Order of the House of Orange Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Grand Officers of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Knights Commander with Star of the Order of St. Gregory the Great Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Labour law scholars Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Provincial Council of North Holland Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Ministers of social affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of state of the Netherlands Municipal councillors of Amsterdam People from Oirschot People from Tilburg Roman Catholic State Party politicians Scholars of administrative law Academic staff of Tilburg University University of Amsterdam alumni World War II civilian prisoners World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Writers from Amsterdam 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch lawyers 20th-century Dutch male writers Dutch MPs 1948–1952