Johannes "Jan" van Aartsen (; 15 September 1909 – 3 February 1992) was a Dutch jurist and politician of 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).Mr. J. (Jan) van Aartsen
Parlement & Politiek Van Aartsen applied at the

Free University Amsterdam The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the othe ...

in June 1931

majoring An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...

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 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 July 1936. Van Aartsen worked as a lawyer 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 August 1936 until October 1944. On 10 May 1940

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

invaded An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives of co ...

the Netherlands and the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

fled to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to escape the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

. During

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 ...

, Van Aartsen continued to work as a lawyer. He worked as a trade association executive for the Christian Employers' association (NCW) from October 1944 until September 1949 and served as General-Secretary from July 1947 until September 1949. Van Aartsen also 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 ...

from May 1948 until November 1958 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 The Hague from September 1949 until November 1958. Van Aartsen was appointed as Minister of Transport and Water Management in the Drees III cabinet following the resignation of Jacob Algera, taking office on 1 November 1958. The Drees III cabinet fell on 11 December 1958 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 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 ...

Beel II cabinet with Van Aartsen continuing as Minister of Transport and Water Management, taking office on 22 December 1958. Van Aartsen was elected to 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 ...

in the 1959 general election, taking office on 20 March 1959. Following the cabinet formation of 1959, Van Aartsen was appointed as Minister of Housing and Construction in the

De Quay cabinet The De Quay cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Dutch Government from 19 May 1959 until 24 July 1963. The cabinet was formed by the Christian democracy, christian-democratic Catholic Peop ...

, taking office on 19 May 1959. In December 1962 Van Aartsen announced that he would not stand for the 1963 general election. Following the cabinet formation of 1963, Van Aartsen was again appointed as Minister of Transport and Water Management in the

Marijnen cabinet The Marijnen cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 24 July 1963 until 14 April 1965. The cabinet was a continuation of the previous De Quay cabinet and was formed by the Christian democracy, Christian democratic Catholic People's Party ...

, taking office on 24 July 1963. The Marijnen cabinet fell on 27 February 1965 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1965, Van Aartsen was not giving a cabinet post in the new

Cals cabinet The Cals cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Dutch Government from 14 April 1965 until 22 November 1966. The cabinet was formed by the Christian democracy, christian-democratic Catholic P ...

, which took office on 14 April 1965. Van Aartsen remained in active politics, in May 1965 Van Aartsen 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 ...

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

, serving from 1 June 1965 until 1 October 1974.

Career

Van Aartsen was a lawyer in

and a member of the

. He became minister of Transportation and Water Management of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in November 1958, at the end of the

fourth Drees cabinet The Third Drees cabinet, also called the Fourth Drees cabinet, was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Dutch Government from 13 October 1956 until 22 December 1958. The cabinet was a continuation of t ...

. From 1959 to 1963, he served as minister of Housing and the Construction Industry in the

. Under De Quay's successor Victor Marijnen, Van Aartsen returned to the post of Transportation and Water Management. In 1965, Van Aartsen was appointed

of 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 ...

, where he would remain until 1974.

Personal life

Van Aartsen was the father of

Jozias van Aartsen Jozias Johannes van Aartsen (; born 25 December 1947) is a retired Dutch politician who served as Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy from 2004 to 2006. A native of The Hague, he attended the Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvli ...

, who became

foreign minister 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 relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

of the Netherlands in 1998. He died at age 82 in 1992 and is buried at Zorgvlied cemetery.

Decorations

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aartsen, Jan van 1909 births 1992 deaths Aldermen of The Hague Anti-Revolutionary Party politicians Commanders of the Order of Leopold II Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch trade association executives Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau King's and Queen's Commissioners of Zeeland Ministers of housing and spatial planning of the Netherlands Ministers of transport and water management of the Netherlands Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Municipal councillors of The Hague Officers of the Legion of Honour Politicians from Amsterdam People from Vlissingen Reformed Churches Christians from the Netherlands Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni Burials at Zorgvlied Cemetery 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch lawyers 20th-century Dutch politicians