Hendrik Jan "Henk" Zeevalking (7 June 1922 – 23 February 2005) was a Dutch politician and co-founder of 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) party and jurist. Zeevalking 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 ...

from April 1934 until June 1940 and applied at the

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 ...

in January 1946 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 August 1946 before graduating with a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree in December 1947. Zeevalking worked as a researcher at the Utrecht University from December 1947 until February 1950. Zeevalking worked as a

criminal defense lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the Defense (legal), defense of individuals and companies charged with Criminal law, criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while other ...

from February 1950 until September 1970. Zeevalking 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 ...

of Utrecht from April 1970 until June 1975 and served as an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

in Utrecht from September 1970 until September 1974. Zeevalking served as acting Mayor of Utrecht from 1 February 1974 until 6 September 1974 following the retirement of Hans van Tuyll van Serooskerken. Zeevalking was appointed as State Secretary for Justice in the Cabinet Den Uyl following the resignation of Jan Glastra van Loon, taking office on 6 June 1975. The Cabinet Den Uyl fell on 22 March 1977 after four years of tensions in the coalition 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. Zeevalking was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1977, taking office on 8 June 1977 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 Justice on 8 September 1977. In December 1978 Zeevalking was nominated as Mayor of Rijswijk, he was installed as Mayor, taking office on 16 January 1979 and subsequently resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives on 24 January 1979. Zeevalking also served as Chairman of the Democrats 66 from 27 October 1979 until 11 September 1981. After the election of 1981 Zeevalking was appointed as Minister of Transport and Water Management in the Cabinet Van Agt II, taking office on 11 September 1981. The Cabinet Van Agt II fell just seven months into its term on 12 May 1982 after months of tensions in the coalition and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the first cabinet formation of 1982 when it was replaced by the

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Occupations * Janitor (chiefly in the United States), a person who cleans and maintains buildings such as hospitals and schools * Property caretaker, a person who cares for a property * Caregiver or carer (UK), a person wh ...

Cabinet Van Agt III with Zeevalking continuing as Minister of Transport and Water Management, taking office on 29 May 1982. In August 1982 Zeevalking announced his retirement from national politics and that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1982. The Cabinet Van Agt III was replaced by the Cabinet Lubbers I following the second cabinet formation of 1982 on 4 November 1982.

Biography

Early life

Hendrik Jan Zeevalking was born on 7 June 1922 in a

Dutch Reformed The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal fami ...

family in

Laag-Keppel Laag-Keppel is a small city with city privileges (since 1404) between Doetinchem Doetinchem (; Dutch Low Saxon, Low Saxon: ) is a city and Municipalities in the Netherlands, municipality in the east of the Netherlands. It is situated along the ...

, a village in the municipality

Bronckhorst Bronckhorst () is a municipality in Gelderland, the Netherlands. The municipality is the result of a merger of the former municipalities Hengelo, Gelderland, Hengelo, Hummelo en Keppel, Steenderen, Vorden and Zelhem, on 1 January 2005. The munici ...

situated in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

. He studied

at the

from 1946 until 1947.

Politics

He was co-founder of the

social-liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited ...

political party

(D66) in 1966. He served as vicechair of the party from 1968 to 1969 and as chair from 1979 to 1981. He served as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of traffic and public works in

(1970–1974). He was State Secretary for

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

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 ...

(1975–1977),

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

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 ...

(1979–1981), and Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management (1981–1982). Zeevalking was a member of the

Protestant Church in the Netherlands The Protestant Church in the Netherlands (, abbreviated PKN) is the largest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Netherlands, consisting of historical Calvinism, Calvinist and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. It w ...

. He was also an active

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and published several books on freemasonry.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Mr. H.J. (Henk) Zeevalking
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeevalking, Henk 1922 births 2005 deaths Aldermen of Utrecht Chairmen of the Democrats 66 Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Academic staff of the Delft University of Technology Dutch academic administrators Dutch Freemasons Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch political party founders Dutch political writers Grand Officers of the Order of Leopold II Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Mayors in South Holland People from Rijswijk Mayors of Utrecht Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers of transport and water management of the Netherlands Municipal councillors of Utrecht (city) Officers of the Legion of Honour People from Bronckhorst Politicians from Delft People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands State secretaries for justice of the Netherlands Utrecht University alumni Academic staff of Utrecht University 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch lawyers 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians