Leo de Block (14 August 1904 – 4 January 1988) was a Dutch politician of the defunct

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party (, KVP) was a Roman Catholicism in the Netherlands, Catholic Christian democracy, Christian democratic list of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as ...

(KVP) now merged into 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 ...

(CDA) party and businessman. De Block attended the

Ignatius Gymnasium Saint Ignatius Gymnasium () is one of the five categorial ''gymnasia'' (a type of school) in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Together with the Vossius Gymnasium, the Barlaeus Gymnasium and Cygnus Gymnasium it is among the most prestigious schools in A ...

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 1917 until May 1923 and applied at the

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

in June 1923 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 June 1925 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 1929. De Block worked as a financial analyst for the

Amsterdamsche Bank The Amsterdamsche Bank was a significant bank in the Netherlands, founded in 1871. In 1964, it merged with Rotterdamsche Bank to form AMRO Bank (for AMsterdamsche & ROtterdamsche). Overview Amsterdamsche Bank was established on by a group of ...

from September 1923 until October 1928 and for the from October 1928 until August 1945 and for the Het Nederlandse Beheersinstituut from August 1945 until July 1946. De Block worked as

Chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) of the Incasso Bank from July 1946 until February 1947. De Block worked as a civil servant for the

Ministry 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 portfoli ...

from February 1947 until May 1959 as Director-General of the department of Budgetary Affairs from February 1947 until March 1953 and as Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Finance from March 1953 until April 1959 and for the Ministry of Economic Affairs as Director-General of the department for General Economic Policy from April 1959 until May 1960. In May 1960 he was nominated as

Chief financial officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...

(CFO) of

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),

. After the election of 1963 De Block was appointed as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet Marijnen, taking office on 3 September 1963. The Cabinet Marijnen fell on 27 February 1965 after a disagreement in the coalition about reforms to the

public broadcasting system The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prom ...

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 cabinet formation of 1965 when it was replaced by the Cabinet Cals with De Block continuing as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, taking office on 4 May 1965. 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 was seen an indirect

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1966 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 Zijlstra with De Block remaining State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and also appointed as State Secretary for Transport and Water Management and dual served in those positions, taking office on 22 November 1966. In December De Block announced that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1967. Following the cabinet formation of 1967 De Block was appointed as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cabinet De Jong, taking office on 5 April 1967. On 7 January 1970 De Block resigned after he disagreed with the

cabinets A cabinet in governing is a group of people with the constitutional or legal task to rule a country or state, or advise a head of state, usually from the executive branch. Their members are known as ministers and secretaries and they are ...

decision to increase the wages in the metal industry but another reason was criticism on his leadership in the handling of the rising inflation after the introduction of the

value-added tax A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared wi ...

(BTW). De Block semi-retired from in national politics and 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 ( DSM Company,

ING Group ING Group N.V. () is a Dutch multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, whol ...

Robeco Robeco is an originally Dutch asset management firm, since 2013 part of Orix, founded in 1929 as the Rotterdamsch Beleggings Consortium (Rotterdam Investment Consortium). As of 2014, the company had €246 billion of assets under management. It ...

and

Van Lanschot Van Lanschot Kempen N.V. is a specialised, independent wealth manager that provides private banking, investment management and investment banking services to wealthy individuals and institutions. It is headquartered in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Nethe ...

) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Cadastre Agency,

Dutch Transport Safety Board The Dutch Transport Safety Board (Raad voor de Transportveiligheid, RvTV) was an agency of the government of the Netherlands. Its head office was originally on the fifth floor of the Bruggebouw West in The Hague. It later moved to Anna van Saksen ...

and the Advisory Council for Foreign Affairs).

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Mr. L. (Leo) de Block
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Block, Leo de 1904 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch economists 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Roman Catholics Businesspeople from Amsterdam Catholic People's Party politicians Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Dutch bankers Dutch chief executives in the airline industry Dutch chief executives in the finance industry Dutch corporate directors Dutch financial analysts Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch Roman Catholics Leiden University alumni Ministers of economic affairs of the Netherlands Politicians from The Hague State Secretaries for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands State Secretaries for Transport of the Netherlands Van Lanschot Kempen people