Jelle Zijlstra (; 27 August 1918 – 23 December 2001) was a Dutch 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) and economist who served as

Prime Minister of the Netherlands The prime minister of the Netherlands () or, before 1945, the chairman of the Council of Ministers () is the ''de facto'' head of government of the Netherlands.''Grondwet voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden'' onstitution of the Kingdom of the N ...

from 22 November 1966 until 5 April 1967. Zijlstra studied Economics at the Rotterdam School of Economics obtaining a

Master of Economics The Master of Economics (MEcon or MEc) is a postgraduate master's degree in economics comprising training in economic theory, econometrics, and/or applied economics. The degree is also offered as an MS or MSc, MA or MCom in economics; var ...

degree and worked as a researcher and lecturer at his alma mater before finishing his thesis and graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy in

Public economics Public economics ''(or economics of the public sector)'' is the study of government policy through the lens of economic efficiency and Equity (economics), equity. Public economics builds on the theory of welfare economics and is ultimately used as ...

and worked as a professor of public economics at the

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

from October 1948 until September 1952. After the 1952 general election Zijlstra was appointed as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Drees II cabinet, taking office on 2 September 1952. After

Party Leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a politica ...

Jan Schouten announced his retirement, Zijlstra was selected as his successor on 23 April 1956. For the 1956 general election, Zijlstra served as lead candidate and 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 ...

, becoming

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. ...

on 3 July 1956. Following a

cabinet formation 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 ...

, Zijlstra continued as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Drees III cabinet and stepped down as party leader and parliamentary leader on 3 October 1956. The Drees III cabinet fell on 11 December 1958 and was replaced by the caretaker Beel II cabinet, with Zijlstra retaining his position and also becoming

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

taking office on 22 December 1958. For the 1959 general election, Zijlstra again served as lead candidate. Following a

, Zijlstra continued as minister of finance in the De Quay cabinet. In September 1962 Zijlstra announced that he would not stand for the 1963 general election, and declined to serve in the new cabinet. Zijlstra returned as a distinguished professor of public economics at the Vrije Universiteit and was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

after the 1963 Senate election, taking office on 25 June 1963 and 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 for finance. Zijlstra also served as director of the Abraham Kuyper Foundation from August 1963 until November 1966. Zijlstra continued to be active in politics and in September 1966 was nominated as the next president of ''

De Nederlandsche Bank De Nederlandsche Bank (, , abbr. DNB) is the national central bank for the Netherlands within the Eurosystem. It was the Dutch central bank from 1814 to 1998, issuing the guilder. Since 2014, it has also been the country's national competent au ...

'', the country's central bank. However, after the Night of Schmelzer, he was persuaded to lead an interim cabinet until the next election. Zijlstra formed the caretaker Zijlstra cabinet and took office as

and minister of finance on 22 November 1966. Before the 1967 general election, Zijlstra indicated that he would not serve another term as prime minister and opted to accept the nomination as head of ''De Nederlandsche Bank''. Zijlstra left office following the installation of the De Jong cabinet on 5 April 1967 and was confirmed as chief of ''De Nederlandsche Bank'', serving from 1 May 1967 until 1 January 1982. Zijlstra retired from active politics at 63 and became active in the private and public sectors as a corporate and non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government, and continued to be active in advocating for a balanced governmental budget. Zijlstra was known for his abilities as a skilful manager and effective debater. Zijlstra was granted the honorary title of

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

on 30 April 1983 and continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death from

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

-related illness at the age of 83. He holds the distinction as the shortest-serving Prime Minister after World War II and his premiership is therefore usually omitted both by scholars and the public in

rankings A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...

but his legacy as a minister in the 1950s and 60s and later as president of ''De Nederlandsche Bank'' continue to this day.

Biography

Early life

Jelle Zijlstra was born on 27 August 1918 in Oosterbierum 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 ...

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

in a

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

family, the son of Ane Jelle Zijlstra (born 14 November 1879) and Pietje Postuma (born 6 March 1897), both of whom had also been born in the village. After completing his secondary education, he studied at the Netherlands School of Economics, the predecessor of the

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ; abbreviated as EUR) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century Christian humanist and theologian. Erasmus M ...

. His studies were interrupted twice: first by his period of military service and later when he had to go into hiding in 1942 after refusing to sign the loyalty oath required of students by the Nazi occupation authorities. Even so, he completed his economics degree in October 1945 as a

. Immediately after graduating, Zijlstra became a research assistant at the Netherlands School of Economics and was promoted a year later to senior research assistant and in 1947 to lecturer. In 1948 he was awarded a doctorate as a Doctor of Philosophy with

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

for his thesis on the rate of circulation of money and its bearing on the value of money and monetary equilibrium. In the same year he was appointed professor of economics at the

Politics

Representing the

, Zijlstra successively served as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Drees II, Drees III and Beel II cabinets, and as

in the Beel II and De Quay cabinets between 2 September 1952 and 24 July 1963. Following his ministerial career, Zijlstra returned to the Vrije Universiteit as professor of public finance, though he also served as a member of the

between 1963 and 1966. In 1973 Zijlstra became member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

. After the fall of the Cals cabinet, Zijlstra headed an interim government as

and

between 22 November 1966 until 5 April 1967. From 1967 until the end of 1981 he was President of ''

'', the central bank of the Netherlands, and in the course of that period he was also President of the

Bank for International Settlements The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution which is owned by member central banks. Its primary goal is to foster international monetary and financial cooperation while serving as a bank for central bank ...

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. He has sat on many boards in the public and private sectors.

Personal

On 11 March 1946, Zijlstra married his childhood sweetheart Hetty Bloksma (30 January 1921 – 19 November 2013). They had three daughters and two sons, who were born between 1947 and 1961. The last months of life were dominated by his deteriorating health, and he suffered from

. Jelle Zijlstra died in

Wassenaar Wassenaar (; population: in ) is a municipality and town located in the province of South Holland, on the western coast of the Netherlands. An affluent suburb of The Hague, Wassenaar lies north of that city on the N44/A44 highway near the Nort ...

on 23 December 2001 at the age of eighty-three Zijlstra, and was buried at the cemetery of the local

Reformed Church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

. His younger brother Rinse Zijlstra (19 April 1927 – 26 September 2017) was also a member of the

, serving from 23 February 1967 until 10 May 1971 and a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

serving from 12 April 1983 until 13 June 1995 for the

and 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 ...

.Vergeten volksvertegenwoordigers: dr. Jelle Zijlstra
, @Geschiedenisgek, 24 August 2011

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Dr. J. (Jelle) Zijlstra
Parlement & Politiek *
Dr. J. Zijlstra (ARP)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal *
Kabinet-Zijlstra
Rijksoverheid {{DEFAULTSORT:Zijlstra, Jelle 1918 births 2001 deaths Anti-Revolutionary Party politicians Businesspeople from Amsterdam Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Deaths from dementia in the Netherlands Deaths from vascular dementia Dutch bankers Dutch business writers Dutch chief executives in the finance industry Dutch corporate directors Dutch financial writers Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni Academic staff of Erasmus University Rotterdam Financial economists Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Grand Crosses of the Order of the House of Orange Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Leaders of the Anti-Revolutionary Party Macroeconomists Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Members of the Social and Economic Council Ministers of economic affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of finance of the Netherlands Ministers of state of the Netherlands Monetarists Monetary economists Politicians from Amsterdam People from Franekeradeel People from Wassenaar Presidents of the Central Bank of the Netherlands Political economists Prime ministers of the Netherlands Public economists Royal Netherlands Army officers Royal Netherlands Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Grand Decoration with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria Reformed Churches Christians from the Netherlands Academic staff of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Writers from Amsterdam 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch economists 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians