Jacobus Gerardus "Ko" Suurhoff (23 July 1905 – 14 March 1967) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA) and trade union leader. Suurhoff attended a

Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

from May 1917 until July 1920. Suurhoff worked as a clerk for the Netherlands Steamship Company (SMN) from July 1920 until December 1924. Suurhoff was

conscripted Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

in the

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dut ...

serving in the infantry Johan Willem Friso Regiment as a

Staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administrative, supe ...

from January 1925 until October 1927. Suurhoff worked as an accountant for the trading company Ceteco from October 1927 until April 1930. Suurhoff worked as a trade union leader for the Dutch Trade Unions association (NVV) from April 1930 until May 1940. Suurhoff 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, rural coun ...

of Amsterdam from June 1939 until February 1941. Suurhoff became a Member of the House of Representatives after

Willem Albarda Johan Willem Albarda (5 June 1877 – 19 April 1957) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA) and civil engineer. Biography Albarda worked as student resea ...

was appointed as Minister of Water Management in the Cabinet De Geer II, taking office on 21 September 1939 serving as a

backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the ...

. On 10 May 1940

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing co ...

the Netherlands and the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

fled to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to escape the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 193 ...

. During the German occupation Suurhoff continued to serve as a Member of the House of Representatives in '' in name only'' but in reality the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

'' political influence of the House of Representatives was marginalized by the German occupation authority. On 4 May 1942 Suurhoff was arrested by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one or ...

and detained in the

ilag Ilag is an abbreviation of the German word ''Internierungslager''. They were internment camps established by the German Army in World War II to hold Allied civilians, caught in areas that were occupied by the German Army. They included United St ...

Sint-Michielsgestel Sint-Michielsgestel () is a village in the municipality of Sint-Michielsgestel, Netherlands. Geography The 120 km long river Dommel flows north from a well near Peer in Belgium. Just north of 's-Hertogenbosch it is joined by the Aa and ...

and was released on 21 June 1943. Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Queen Wilhelmina ordered a Recall of Parliament and Suurhoff remained in the House of Representatives. Suurhoff again served on the Municipal Council of Amsterdam from June 1945 until October 1946. On 9 February 1946 the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP), the

Free-thinking Democratic League The Free-thinking Democratic League ( nl, Vrijzinnig Democratische Bond, VDB) was a progressive liberal political party in the Netherlands. Established in 1901, it played a relatively large role in Dutch politics, supplying one Prime Minister, W ...

(VDB) and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) choose to merge to form the Labour Party (PvdA). Suurhoff was one of the co-founders and became one of the unofficial Deputy Leaders of the Labour Party. After the election of 1946 Suurhoff wasn't reelected and he continued to serve until the end of the parliamentary term on 4 June 1946. Suurhoff again worked as a trade union leader for the Dutch Trade Unions association from June 1946 until September 1952 serving as General-Secretary of the Executive Board from August 1949 until September 1952. Suurhoff returned as a Member of the House of Representatives following the resignation of Jo Stokvis, taking office on 24 October 1946 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 Affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of ...

. After the election of 1952 Suurhoff was appointed as

Minister of Social Affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of s ...

and Health in the Cabinet Drees II, taking office on 2 September 1952. After the election of 1956 Suurhoff returned as Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 3 July 1956. Following the cabinet formation of 1956 Suurhof continued as Minister of Social Affairs and Health in the Cabinet Drees III, taking office on 13 October 1956. Suurhoff served as acting

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from 13 October 1956 until 29 October 1956 until the appointment of

Teun Struycken Antoon Arnold Marie "Teun" Struycken (27 December 1906 – 1 December 1977) was a Dutch jurist and politician, co-founder of the Catholic People's Party (KVP) – now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). Struycken worked as a la ...

who had served as

Governor of the Netherlands Antilles The governor of the Netherlands Antilles was the representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Netherlands Antilles and the head of the government of the Netherlands Antilles. Duties With the introduction of the Charter for the Kingd ...

. The Cabinet Drees III fell on 11 December 1958 on after the Labour Party and the

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party ( nl, Katholieke Volkspartij, KVP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as a continuation of the Roman Catholic State Party, which was a continuation of ...

(KVP) disagreed on a proposed

Tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

increase and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1958 when it was replaced by caretaker Cabinet Beel II on 22 December 1958. After the election of 1959 Suurhoff again returned as Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 20 March 1959 serving as a frontbencher chairing the parliamentary committee for Social Affairs and special parliamentary committee for the Merger Treaty and spokesperson for Social Affairs. Suurhoff also served as

Chairman of the Labour Party The Chair of the Labour Party is a position in the Labour Party of the United Kingdom. The Chair is responsible for administration of the party and overseeing general election campaigns, and is typically held concurrently with another position. ...

from 24 March 1961 until 14 April 1965. On 27 February 1965 the Cabinet Marijnen fell and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1965 when it was replaced with the Cabinet Cals with Suurhoff appointed as Minister of Transport and Water Management, taking office on 14 April 1965. Suurhoff took a medical leave of absence from 1 May 1966 until 30 June 1966 during which Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning Pieter Bogaers served as acting Minister of Transport and Water Management. The Cabinet Cals fell on 14 October 1966 after the Leader of the Catholic People's Party Norbert Schmelzer had proposed a motion that called for a stronger austerity policy to further reduce the

deficit A deficit is the amount by which a sum falls short of some reference amount. Economics * Balance of payments deficit, when the balance of payments is negative * Government budget deficit * Deficit spending, the amount by which spending exceeds ...

was seen an indirect

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1966 when it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Zijlstra on 22 November 1966. After the election of 1967 Suurhoff again returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 23 February 1967 but shortly thereafter he was diagnosed with

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devic ...

cancer, he died a month later at the age of 61. Suurhoff was known for his abilities as a

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, ac ...

r and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. He holds the distinction as the third longest-serving Minister of Social Affairs after

with .

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
J.G. (Ko) Suurhoff
Parlement & Politiek 1905 births 1967 deaths Dutch anti-poverty advocates Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Chairmen of the Labour Party (Netherlands) Deaths from cancer in the Netherlands Dutch accountants Dutch agnostics Dutch former Christians Dutch humanists Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch political party founders Dutch prisoners of war in World War II Dutch trade union leaders Former Calvinist and Reformed Christians Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers of Health of the Netherlands Ministers of Social Affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of the Interior of the Netherlands Ministers of Transport and Water Management of the Netherlands Municipal councillors of Amsterdam World War II civilian prisoners World War II prisoners of war held by Germany 20th-century Dutch politicians Trade unionists from Amsterdam {{Netherlands-PvdA-politician-stub