Hendrik "Henk" Johan Lubert Vonhoff (22 June 1931 – 25 July 2010) was a Dutch politician of 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) and teacher.

Biography

Vonhoff attended the State Civic School of Amsterdam 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 April 1950 until May 1957 majoring in

Education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

obtaining a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed. or BEd) is an undergraduate academic degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. A Bachelor of Education program typically lasts three to four years and combines both coursework and practical exp ...

degree. Vonhoff worked as a history teacher in Amsterdam from June 1957 until February 1967 and as a political consultant for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy from January 1952 until February 1967 and as a political pundit for ''

De Telegraaf ''De Telegraaf'' (; ) is the largest Netherlands, Dutch daily morning newspaper. Haro Kraak,Gaat Paul Jansen de crisis bij De Telegraaf oplossen?, ''de Volkskrant'', 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015. Paul Jansen has been the editor-in-chief since ...

'' and ''

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, ...

'' from March 1959 until February 1967. Vonhoff was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1967, taking office on 23 February 1967 serving as a

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then know ...

and

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for

Social Work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

Military Personnel Military personnel or military service members are members of the state's armed forces. Their roles, pay, and obligations differ according to their military branch (army, navy, marines, coast guard, air force, and space force), rank ( office ...

and deputy spokesperson for

Culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

Media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

and Kingdom Relations. After the election of 1971 Vonhoff was appointed as State Secretary for Culture, Recreation and Social Work in the Cabinet Biesheuvel I, taking office on 28 July 1971. The Cabinet Biesheuvel I fell just one year later on 19 July 1972 after 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) retracted their support following there dissatisfaction with the proposed budget memorandum to further reduce the deficit and continued to serve in a

demissionary A demissionary cabinet () is a type of caretaker government, caretaker cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet or provisional government in the politics of the Netherlands, Netherlands. Overview The Dutch demissionary cabinet continues the current g ...

capacity until the first cabinet formation of 1972 when it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Biesheuvel II with Vonhoff continuing as State Secretary for Culture, Recreation and Social Work, taking office on 9 August 1972. After the election of 1972 Westerterp returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 23 January 1973 but he was still serving in the cabinet and because of

dualism Dualism most commonly refers to: * Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another * P ...

customs in the constitutional convention of Dutch politics he couldn't serve a

dual mandate A dual mandate occurs when an official serves in or holds multiple public positions simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain, double-dipping in the United States, and ''cumul des mandats'' in France. Thus, if ...

he subsequently resigned as State Secretary for Culture, Recreation and Social Work on 23 April 1973 and he continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a frontbencher chairing the parliamentary committee for Education and Sciences and spokesperson for Education, Social Work and Culture. In August 1974 Vonhoff was nominated as Mayor of Utrecht, he resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives the same day he was installed as Mayor, taking office on 6 September 1974. In November 1980 he was nominated as

Queen's Commissioner A King's commissioner (, ''CvdK'') is the head of government and legislature in a province of the Netherlands. When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Queen's commissioner (''Commissaris van de Koningin''). A commissioner is appointed ...

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 ...

, he resigned as Mayor the same day he was installed as Queen's Commissioner, serving from 16 December 1980 until 1 July 1996. Vonhoff also became active in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

and

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 corporate director and nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards (

Groninger Museum The Groninger Museum () is an art museum in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. The museum exhibits modern and contemporary art of local, national, and international artists. The museum opened in 1874. The current post-modernist building c ...

, University Medical Center Groningen,

Radio Netherlands Worldwide Radio Netherlands (RNW; ) was a public radio and television network based in Hilversum, producing and transmitting programmes for international audiences outside the Netherlands from 1947 to 2012. Its services in Dutch ended on 11 May 2012. Eng ...

, Noordelijk Scheepvaartmuseum and the Royal Library) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Advisory Council for Spatial Planning, Raad voor Cultuur, Cadastre Agency,

Hoge Veluwe National Park De Hoge Veluwe National Park (; "The High Veluwe") is a Dutch national park in the province of Gelderland near the cities of Ede, Wageningen, Arnhem and Apeldoorn. It is approximately in area, consisting of heathlands, sand dunes, and woodland ...

, Natuurbeschermingsraad, Institute for Sound and Vision and the Public Pension Funds PFZW) and worked as a trade association executive for the Beer and Mineral Water Manufacturers association (BBM) serving as chairman of the executive board from February 1977 until May 1992 and for the Techniek Nederland (MKB) serving as chairman of the executive board from August 1982 until October 1996 and as a sport administrator for the

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

(NOC) serving as President of the Dutch Olympic Committee from 21 May 1985 until 27 January 1989. After the election of 1986 Vonhoff was approached as

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in the Cabinet Lubbers II but per his own request asked not to be considered for 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 ...

. Vonhoff was known for his abilities as a

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...

r and consensus builder. Vonhoff continued to comment on political affairs until his is death at the age of 79 and holds the distinction as the longest-serving Queen's Commissioner of Groningen after

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 ...

with .

Decorations

References

External links

*
H.J.L. (Henk) Vonhoff
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Vonhoff, Henk 1931 births 2010 deaths Businesspeople from Amsterdam Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Dutch corporate directors Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch sports executives and administrators Dutch trade association executives Academic staff of Erasmus University Rotterdam Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion King's and Queen's Commissioners of Groningen Mayors of Utrecht Politicians from Amsterdam People from Hilversum People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians State Secretaries for Social Work of the Netherlands Writers from Amsterdam 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch historians 20th-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Dutch businesspeople 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch historians 21st-century Dutch male writers Dutch MPs 1967–1971