Dionysius Adrianus Petrus Norbertus Koolen (21 January 1871 – 24 March 1945) was a Dutch Roman Catholic 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 ...

from 1905 until 1925, as minister of Labour, Commerce and Industry between 1925 and 1926, and as a member of the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

from 1926 until his death in 1945. He was a member of the

General League of Roman Catholic Electoral Associations The General League of Roman Catholic Electoral Associations (), informally called the General League (), was a Catholic political party in the Netherlands. It existed from 1904 to 1926, when it was succeeded by the Roman Catholic State Party. It ...

and its successor, the

Roman Catholic State Party The Roman Catholic State Party (, RKSP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1926 as a continuation of the General League of Roman Catholic Electoral Associations. During its entire exis ...

(RKSP).

Early life and career

Dionysius Koolen was born in

Rijswijk Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was 59.642 in 2024, and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also i ...

on 21 January 1871 to Petrus Norbertus Koolen, a civil servant of ''

Staatsspoorwegen ''Staatsspoorwegen'' ( Dutch for State Railways, full name: ''Dienst der Staatsspoor- en Tramwegen in Nederlandsch–Indië'' (State Railways and Tramways Service in the Netherlands Indies, ''SS en T''), commonly abbreviated as SS) was a state-ow ...

'', and Maria Gezina Kooimans. He attended a gymnasium in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

and studied at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

, obtaining a doctorate on 2 October 1894 with a thesis entitled ''De Kapitaalrente'' ("Capital Interest"). He settled in the same city as a lawyer and public prosecutor in 1897, and was appointed as school inspector the following year. In 1903, he was appointed to the Central Board of Appeal, and later served as its chairman.

Political career

Since the start of his professional career, Koolen worked for the founding of a Catholic political party. After his promotion, Koolen became the chairman of the Catholic electoral association in Utrecht, and subsequently served as deputy chairman of the provincial league of Catholic electoral associations. He stood as a candidate in the 1901 general election in the electoral district of Utrecht II, but was defeated by

Joan Röell Joan Röell (21 July 1844 – 13 July 1914) was a Dutch nobleman, lawyer and statesman. He was a member of a prominent Dutch noble family which produced many public administrators, and politicians. From 1894 to 1897 Röell headed the Dutch gov ...

in the second round. In 1904, he carried out preparatory work for the founding of the

on 15 October of that year. He would subsequently chair the party until 1918. Koolen was first elected to the

in the 1905 general election in the electoral district of

Grave A grave is a location where a cadaver, dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is burial, buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of buria ...

, defeating the district's previous deputy Jan Harte van Tecklenburg. He was accused of abusing his power as party chairman to sidestep Harte van Tecklenburg, who had previously been promised the Catholic candidacy in the district, but Koolen denied these charges. He was re-elected unopposed in 1909, 1913 and 1917. In 1918 and 1922, he was re-elected off the Catholic candidate list. In the House, he spoke on matters of finances, labour, education and water management. He was considered to be a representative of the Roman Catholic right; his admiration of

Hendrikus Colijn Hendrikus "Hendrik" Colijn (22 June 1869 – 18 September 1944) was a Dutch politician of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP; now defunct and merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA). He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands fro ...

earned him the nickname "Catholic Colijn" in the press. Koolen was considered for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1918, 1919 and 1920. In October 1920 he was elected, receiving 43 votes out of 84 votes cast. He took office on 14 October of that year, succeeding

Dirk Fock Dirk Fock (19 June 1858 – 17 October 1941) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Liberal State Party (LSP) now merged into the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). He served as Governor of Suriname (1908–1911), Speake ...

. As Speaker of the House, he distinguined himself by his accuracy, strictness and formality, but at times pushed his personal convictions more than was deemed appropriate for the office. In 1923, a cabinet crisis broke out after the Fleet Act was rejected by a majority in the House of Representatives, including ten rebel Catholic MPs.

Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, making her the longest-reigning monarch in Dutch history, as ...

tasked Koolen with forming a new cabinet, but the lack of cooperation of the Anti-Revolutionaries and some Catholics compelled him to return his assignment to the Queen. After subsequent failed formation attempts, the Queen rejected the cabinet's resignation request, and the cabinet continued to serve its term. On 4 August 1925, Koolen was appointed Minister of Labour, Commerce and Industry in the short-lived Colijn I cabinet. He was subsequently appointed to the

, taking office on 1 May 1926. He remained in this office until his death on 24 March 1945.

Decorations

References

External links

Mr.Dr. D.A.P.N. Koolen
Parlement & Politiek * 1871 births 1945 deaths Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Dutch academic administrators Dutch prosecutors Dutch Roman Catholics Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory the Great Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers of economic affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of social affairs of the Netherlands People from Rijswijk Politicians from Utrecht (city) Speakers of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Utrecht University alumni 19th-century Dutch civil servants 19th-century Dutch educators 19th-century Dutch lawyers 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch judges 20th-century Dutch politicians {{Netherlands-politician-stub