Gerard Heinrich Veringa (13 April 1924 – 29 December 1999) was a Dutch politician of the defunct

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) now merged into 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) party and criminologist.Dr. G.H. (Gerard) Veringa
''The Montesquieu Institute''

Biography

Veringa attended a Gymnasium in

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

from April 1936 until May 1942 and applied at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

in June 1945 majoring in

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

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 in June 1946 before switching to

Criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

and

Political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and transferring to the

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in July 1946 before graduating with a

Master of Criminal Justice {{unreferenced, date=April 2014 The Master of Criminal Justice (abbreviated MCJ) is a postgraduate professional master's degree that is designed as a terminal degree for professionals in the field of criminal justice, criminology, or as preparation ...

degree and a

Master of Social Science A Master of Social Science (MSocSc, MSSc or MSS) is a master's degree which has a number of different meanings dependent upon the education system in question. Europe In Finland and Sweden, where the university degree nomenclatura is simply bas ...

degree September 1947 and worked as a researcher at the Fordham University before he got a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

as a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

in Criminology in August 1949. Veringa worked as a civics teacher at

Manhattan College Manhattan University (previously Manhattan College) is a private, Catholic university in New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers (Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools) as an academy fo ...

in New York City from September 1948 until December 1949 and worked as a researcher at the University of Groningen from December 1949 until February 1952. Veringa worked as a civil servant for the Custodial Institutions Agency of 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 ...

from February 1952 until January 1964 as a prison administrator in

Zutphen Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river IJssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in the 11th centur ...

from February 1952 until October 1955 and a prison administrator in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

from October 1955 until March 1962. Veringa 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 ...

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 ...

from September 1958 until April 1967. Veringa also worked as a legal advisor for the Ministry of Justice from November 1959 until April 1967 and served as Director-General of the Custodial Institutions Agency from October 1961 until January 1964. Veringa worked as an associate professor of Criminology at the

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, , formerly ) is a public university, public research university located in Nijmegen, Netherlands. RU has seven faculties and more than 24,000 students. Established in 1923, Radboud University has consistentl ...

from 1 January 1964 until 1 September 1965 and as a professor of

Criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

and Criminology at the Radboud University Nijmegen from 1 September 1965 until 5 April 1967. After the election of 1967 Veringa was appointed as Minister of Education and Sciences in the Cabinet De Jong, taking office on 5 April 1967. Veringa served as acting Minister of Culture, Recreation and Social Work from 7 January 1971 until 22 February 1971 during a medical leave of absence of Marga Klompé. After the Leader of the Catholic People's Party and

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. ...

of the Catholic People's Party in 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 ...

Norbert Schmelzer unexpectedly announced that he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives, the Catholic People's Party leadership approached Veringa as a candidate to succeed him, Veringa accepted and became the Leader of the Catholic People's Party and became the ''

Lijsttrekker In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the candidate placed first on a party list. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government, and the party chair or party leader. Usage by country Net ...

'' (top candidate) of the Catholic People's Party for the election of 1971, taking office on 25 February 1971. The Catholic People's Party suffered a loss, losing 7 seats and fell back as the second largest party and now had 35 seats in the House of Representatives. Veringa was subsequently elected as a Member of the House of Representatives and as Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives, taking office on 11 May 1971. The following cabinet formation of 1971 resulted in a coalition agreement between the Catholic People's Party, 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), 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 ...

(ARP, the

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union (, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged in September 1980. History 187 ...

(CHU) and the

Democratic Socialists '70 The Democratic Socialists '70 (, DS'70) was a social democratic political party in the Netherlands. History DS'70 was founded on 4 April 1970 as the result of a split from the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA). In June 1970, Frans ...

(DS'70) which formed the Cabinet Biesheuvel I with Veringa opting to remain in the House of Representatives instead of accepting a cabinet post in the new

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 ...

and he continued to serve in the House of Representatives as Parliamentary leader, the Cabinet De Jong was replaced by the new

on 6 July 1971. On 16 August 1971 Veringa took a temporary medical leave of absence as Parliamentary leader but on 28 September 1971 Veringa unexpectedly announced that he was stepping down as Leader permanently but continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a

backbencher In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson ...

. In January 1972 Veringa was nominated as Member of the Council of State, he resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives the same day he was installed as a Member of the Council of State, serving from 1 February 1972 until 1 May 1994. Veringa also became active in the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...

and occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government (Raad voor Cultuur, Public Pension Funds APB, Cadastre Agency and the Probation Agency). Veringa was known for his abilities as a negotiator and consensus builder. Veringa continued to comment on political affairs until his is death at the age of 75.

Decorations

References

External links

*
Dr. G.H. (Gerard) Veringa
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Veringa, Gerard 1924 births 1999 deaths Catholic People's Party politicians Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Commanders of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Criminology educators Dutch criminologists Dutch legal scholars Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch prison administrators Dutch Roman Catholics Dutch sociologists Fordham University alumni Grand Officers of the Order of Leopold II Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights of St. Gregory the Great Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Leaders of the Catholic People's Party Manhattan College faculty Ministers of education of the Netherlands Ministers of social work of the Netherlands Ministers of sport of the Netherlands Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Municipal councillors in South Holland Politicians from Groningen (city) People from Rijswijk Academic staff of Radboud University Nijmegen Scholars of criminal law University of Groningen alumni Academic staff of the University of Groningen 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch scientists