Elizabeth Maria Alida Schmitz (20 May 1938 – 31 December 2024) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA).
Early life
Schmitz was born on 20 May 1938 in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
. She came from a middle-class
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
family and her father, who sold tobacco, died early. She was the only girl of five children. She completed her secondary education at a girls school before spending a year working as an
au pair
An au pair (; : au pairs) is a person working for, and living as part of, a homestay, host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family’s responsibility for child care as well as some homemaking, housework, and receive a monetary ...
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
. She then moved back to Rotterdam, where she worked for a shipping firm and then for the ''Stichting Samenwerkende Kerken''. From 1958 to 1974, Schmitz worked for educational organisations in Rotterdam. At the same time, she studied administrative law and political science at
Erasmus University
Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ; abbreviated as EUR) is a public university, public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus, Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century Christia ...
, studying at the evenings and on weekends.
Political career
Schmitz first became involved in politics in 1968, when she joined 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 ...
(D66). From 1972 to 1974, Schmitz was a member of the Rotterdam City Council. She served first as a member of the D66 and then, in 1974, joined the Labour Party (PvdA). She became an alderman for social affairs on behalf of that party, serving between 1974 and 1982. She opposed cuts to social services and following fraud in the department, she appointed
Ien Dales
Catharina Isabella "Ien" Dales (18 October 1931 – 10 January 1994) was a Dutch politician and social worker. Born in Arnhem, she received a degree in education from the University of Amsterdam and worked in social services before her career in ...
to take over as the social services director. While serving in these positions, the two women became close.
Schmitz was elected as the mayor of
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 ...
between 16 February 1985 and 3 August 1994. During this period, she had a relationship with Dales, then mayor of
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 ...
. She succeeded
Jos van Kemenade
Josephus Antonius van Kemenade (6 March 1937 – 19 February 2020) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA) and sociologist. He was granted the honorary title of Minister of State (Netherlands), Minister of S ...
as vice president of
Pax Christi
Pax Christi International is an international Catholic peace movement. The Pax Christi International website declares its mission is "to transform a world shaken by violence, terrorism, deepening inequalities, and global insecurity".
History
...
in 1986. She remained in this position until she joined the cabinet in 1994.
Schmitz was appointed the
Secretary of State for Justice
The secretary of state for justice is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Justice. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Since the office's inception ...
by
Wim Kok
Willem Kok (; 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.Kok I cabinet. She was responsible for immigration and asylum policy, family law, youth advocacy, gambling, legal aid and nationality. She held this position until 3 August 1998. During her tenure as state secretary, asylum policy was a hot topic across Europe. Schmitz made an effort to deport illegal immigrants from the Netherlands. The most famous of them was Amsterdam tailor , who had to return to Turkey with his family after living and working in the Netherlands for many years. While in this position, she proposed legislation to pardon illegal immigrants who had been living in the country for six years, but this was blocked by the D66 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).
Schmitz was a deputy judge in the district court in Zwolle between 1999 and 2008 and a deputy judge in the district court in Zutphen between 2004 and 2008. She was a member of the Advisory Council on International Affairs between 2001 and January 2006 and a chair of the Advisory Board Members Selection Committee Judiciary from 2005.
After four years as secretary of state, she left politics in August 1998. From 1999 to 2009, Schmitz chaired the curatorium of the African Studies Centre in Leiden. On 1 February 2000, she succeeded
Til Gardeniers-Berendsen
Mathilde Hubertine Maria Francisca "Til" Gardeniers-Berendsen (18 February 1925 – 22 October 2019) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and nonprofit director ...
as the health insurance ombudsman, a position she held until 2010.
Personal life and death
Schmitz was Roman Catholic and in 1970, she was offered a position as assistant secretary of the
diocese of Rotterdam
The Diocese of Rotterdam () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in South Holland province of the Netherlands. The diocese is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Utrecht. Since 2011, the bishop has b ...
, but she rejected the offer due to her conflict with the bishop of the diocese,
Adrianus Johannes Simonis
Adrianus Johannes Simonis (26 November 1931 – 2 September 2020) was a Dutch cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Utrecht from 1983 to 2007, and was made a cardinal in 1985.
Biography
Simonis was born in Lisse, South ...
. In 2016, an exhibit at the Museum Haarlem honoured the former mayors of the city, including Schmitz, Bernt Schneiders, Jaap Pop and Jan Reehorst.
Schmitz died on 31 December 2024, at the age of 86.