Andreas Antonius Maria "Dries" van Agt (; 2 February 1931 – 5 February 2024) was a Dutch politician, jurist and diplomat 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 19 December 1977 until 4 November 1982. He was a prominent leader 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 ...

(KVP) and later its successor party, the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( , CDA) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands. Formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and the Christian Historical ...

(CDA). Van Agt was known for his abilities as a skilled debater and negotiator. During his premiership, his cabinets were responsible for several major public sector and civil service reforms and further reducing the deficit following the recession in the 1980s. Van Agt continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until he suffered a major

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

in May 2019 which forced him to undergo rehabilitation. He held the distinction as the oldest living and earliest serving former prime minister following the death of Piet de Jong in July 2016, until his death in February 2024.

Early life

Andreas Antonius Maria van Agt was born in Geldrop, Netherlands in a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

family. After receiving his diploma Gymnasium-A at the Augustinianum, he studied at the Catholic University of Nijmegen, where he received his Doctorate in Law in 1955. After graduating, he practised law in Eindhoven until 1957, after which he worked in the office of legal and business affairs of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries until 1962. From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Political career

Minister and deputy prime minister

Van Agt entered politics as a member of the

, which merged with the other two major Christian democratic parties in 1980 to form the

(CDA). From 1968 to 1971, Van Agt was Professor of Criminal Law at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. From 1971 to 1973, he served as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in the first and second Biesheuvel cabinets. He caused outrage when he tried to pardon the last three Nazi war criminals still in Dutch prisons (known as The Breda Four) in 1972. From 1973 to 1977, he served 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 Justice in 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 ...

Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal

In 1976, Van Agt was elected the first

Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal The Party leader, Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal is the most senior politician within the Christian Democratic Appeal (, CDA) in the Netherlands.The current leader has been Henri Bontenbal since 14 August 2023. History The leaders o ...

, then still a federation of the three confessional parties: the Christian Historical Union, the

and 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 ...

, which contested with a united list for the first time in the 1977 general election (the merger followed in 1980). With Van Agt as its lead candidate, the

reversed years of decline in 1977 and returned to power.

Prime minister in the Van Agt I cabinet

In the parliamentary election of May 1977, the Labour Party (PvdA) obtained its largest number of seats, so a second Den Uyl cabinet seemed likely. However, the tension between the

and the Labour Party in the last coalition, combined with the fact that a coalition between the

and 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) was possible, the talks failed after a period of seven months. Eventually Van Agt negotiated a deal with VVD leader

Hans Wiegel Hans Wiegel (; 16 July 1941 – 19 May 2025) was a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessman. Wiegel studied Law at the University of Amsterdam before switching to Political science obtaining a Bache ...

. From 19 December 1977 to 11 September 1981, Van Agt served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of General Affairs in the Van Agt I cabinet.

Prime minister in the Van Agt II cabinet

In 1981 general election, the CDA and the VVD both lost parliamentary seats, so a continuation of the CDA–VVD coalition was not possible, and Van Agt was forced to enter into a coalition with the Labour Party and the

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; D66) is a social liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands, which is positioned on the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Li ...

(which, under Jan Terlouw, had gained a significant number of seats). Three months of difficult negotiations resulted in the Van Agt II cabinet (11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982). In this composition, Van Agt worked with Joop den Uyl again as Den Uyl was made Deputy Prime Minister and "super minister" of Social Affairs and Employment. The characterological and political differences led to several divisions, and in May 1982 the government fell. The personal strife between Van Agt and Den Uyl had deteriorated to such an extent that when Den Uyl died from a

brain tumor A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...

in 1987, Van Agt was not invited to the memorial service by the family. Den Uyl's wife Liesbeth argued that Van Agt had prevented the second Den Uyl cabinet from forming in 1977.

Prime minister in the Van Agt III cabinet

The caretaker government continued as a minority cabinet, with only ministers from the parties

and

, in the Van Agt III cabinet. For replacing the six Labour Party ministers, five new Christian Democratic Appeal and Democrats 66 ministers were appointed, while Van Agt, in addition to being prime minister, took the position of

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

upon him. A new parliamentary election was planned for September 1982. Although Van Agt by this point was worn out, he was persuaded to lead his party's list again, but shortly after the election he withdrew as a candidate for prime minister and was succeeded by

Ruud Lubbers Rudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers (; 7 May 1939 – 14 February 2018) was a Dutch politician, diplomat and businessman who served as prime minister of the Netherlands from 1982 to 1994, and as United Nations High Commissioner for Refug ...

After politics

Diplomat

Dries van Agt served as Ambassador of the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

to Japan from 1987 to 1990 and to the United States from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 1996, he was a visiting professor of International Relations at the

University of Kyoto , or , is a national research university in Kyoto, Japan. Founded in 1897, it is one of the former Imperial Universities and the second oldest university in Japan. The university has ten undergraduate faculties, eighteen graduate schools, and t ...

Professor

Until his death, Van Agt was Prime Counsellor for the International Forum for Justice and Peace, a foundation under Dutch law, registered at the Chamber of Commerce 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 ...

. Chaired by retired international businessman Ben Smoes, they are currently focused on justice and peace regarding the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...

Activism

Van Agt lectured in Cairo in May 2006 at the invitation of the Egyptian electronic magazine Arab-West Report about great changes in the cultural climate of north-western Europe in the past decades, becoming more hostile to religion, including Islam. Muslims, he argued, need to understand those changes to be able to respond better to European criticism of Islam and the Muslim world. Van Agt also spoke against the Council of State in Egypt for continuous delay in granting the Center for Arab-West Understanding (CAWU) the NGO status. He met with prominent figures in Egypt to persuade them to do so. The Egyptian Council of State, after van Agt's visit to Cairo in 2006, ruled on 18 February 2007 that the center should be recognized as an NGO under Egyptian law, ending its three-year struggle to obtain this status. Egypt is known for its reluctance in granting NGO status to discourage political participation. Cornelis Hulsman, a Dutch sociologist, the editor-in-chief of Arab-West Report, and the head of CAWU, stated that van Agt's effort significantly impacted the realization of their goals, which usually requires a lengthy amount of time and scrutiny in its political purposes. For some years, Van Agt took an outspoken stance regarding the Middle East, resulting in a fierce criticism of the policies undertaken by the government of Israel with regard to the Palestinians. When in office, Van Agt was a staunch supporter of Israel, but after he stepped down in 1982, he changed his mind. According to his own words an important turning point was a visit at the late nineties at Bethlehem University on the Israeli-occupied

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. He accused Israel of "

state terrorism State terrorism is terrorism conducted by a state against its own citizens or another state's citizens. It contrasts with '' state-sponsored terrorism'', in which a violent non-state actor conducts an act of terror under sponsorship of a state. ...

" and turning the Palestinian Authority territories into "

bantustan A Bantustan (also known as a Bantu peoples, Bantu homeland, a Black people, black homeland, a Khoisan, black state or simply known as a homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party (South Africa), National Party administration of the ...

s". In 2009, Van Agt founded The Rights Forum, a non-profit organization aimed at promoting a “just and sustainable Dutch and European policy regarding the Palestine/Israel issue”. In 2012, he said that Jews should have had a state in Germany instead of Israel. In September 2016, in reference to the visit of

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel (, Hebrew abbreviations, Hebrew abbreviation: ; , ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief executive of the Israel, State of Israel. Israel is a parliamentary republic with a President of Isra ...

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

to the Netherlands, Van Agt argued that the ongoing Israeli occupation of the

Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...

and the building of settlements there constituted a

war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

under the

Rome Statute The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the R ...

and suggested that Netanyahu should have been sent to the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

Personal life and death

Van Agt was known for his use of archaic language and complicated phrasing, as well as for his love for cycling. He married Eugenie Krekelberg in 1958, and they had three children and seven grandchildren, including professional cyclist . In 2012, he joined the advisory board of the International Museum for Family History. Van Agt lived in Heilig Landstichting, near

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

, until his death. Van Agt and his wife, after choosing

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

, died on 5 February 2024, three days after his 93rd birthday. According to family, the couple died holding hands. Van Agt had previously suffered a debilitating brain hemorrhage while giving a speech in 2019.

Decorations

Honours

Awards

Honorary degrees

Notes

References

External links

*
Mr. A.A.M. (Dries) van Agt
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Agt, Dries van 1931 births 2024 deaths 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch diplomats 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch judges 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch scientists 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Roman Catholics Academic staff of Kwansei Gakuin University Academic staff of Kyoto University Academic staff of Radboud University Nijmegen Academic staff of Ritsumeikan University Academic staff of United Nations University Ambassadors of the European Union to Japan Ambassadors of the European Union to the United States Anti–Iraq War activists Catholic People's Party politicians Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Criminal defense lawyers Deaths by euthanasia Democracy activists Deputy prime ministers of the Netherlands Dutch anti-war activists Dutch critics Dutch expatriates in Japan Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch human rights activists Dutch international relations scholars Dutch language activists Dutch legal scholars Dutch legal writers Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch officials of the European Union Dutch activists Dutch political writers Dutch Roman Catholic writers Dutch Roman Catholics Euthanasia in the Netherlands Governmental studies academics King's and Queen's Commissioners of North Brabant Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Leaders of the Christian Democratic Appeal International criminal law scholars Israeli–Palestinian peace process Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers of foreign affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of justice of the Netherlands People from Berg en Dal (municipality) People from Eindhoven People from Geldrop People from Groesbeek Politicians from Nijmegen Peace and conflict scholars Presidents of the European Council Prime ministers of the Netherlands Radboud University Nijmegen alumni Recipients of the Order of the House of Orange Scholars of criminal law Writers about activism and social change Writers on the Middle East Christian Democratic Appeal MPs