Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy (born Pieter Gerbrandij; 13 April 1885 – 7 September 1961) was a Dutch politician and jurist 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 3 September 1940 until 25 June 1945. He oversaw the

government-in-exile A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovereign state or semi-sovereign state, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usu ...

based in London under Queen Wilhelmina during the

German occupation of the Netherlands Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany German invasion of the Netherlands, invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of ''Fall Gelb'' (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the Rotterdam Blitz, bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces ...

. He was a member 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).

Early life

Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy was born on 13 April 1885 in the village of

Goënga Goënga () is a village in Súdwest-Fryslân municipality in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 240 in January 2017. History The village was first mentioned in 13th century as Goingum, and means "settlement o ...

, near

Sneek Sneek (; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city southwest of Leeuwarden and the seat of the former municipality of Sneek in the province of Friesland, Netherlands. As of 2011 it is the seat of the municipality of Súdw ...

, in the province of

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 ...

. He was an ethnic Frisian, and his name is styled in the traditional Frisian way: first name ("Pieter"), patronymic ("Sjoerds", meaning "son of Sjoerd"), family name (Gerbrandy). Incidentally, the name Gerbrandy is also a patronymic since his great-great-grandfather Jouke Gerbrens (1769–1840) took "Gerbrandy" as a family name on 30 December 1811. Pieter applied to

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 ...

in June 1904 and majored in law. He would obtain a doctorate in law in January 1911 and proceeded to work as a lawyer and prosecutor from 1911 to 1920.

Early political career

Gerbrandy was a member of the Municipal Council of Sneek from April 1916 to January 1930, the

Provincial Council of Friesland The Provincial Council of Friesland () is the provincial council for the Dutch province of Friesland, first introduced under the Constitution of the Netherlands in 1814. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 43 seats are distributed ...

from July 1919 to August 1920 and the Provincial Executive of Friesland from August 1920 to January 1930. From 1920 to 1930, he was a member of the Provincial Council of Friesland for the

(ARP). He also served as Minister of Justice in 1939 against his party's wishes.

World War II

The German victory at the

Battle of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands (), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands (), was a military campaign, part of Battle of France, Case Yellow (), the Nazi German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Neth ...

in 1940 made the

Dutch royal family The monarchy of the Netherlands is governed by the country's charter and constitution, roughly a third of which explains the mechanics of succession, accession, and abdication; the roles and duties of the monarch; the formalities of communica ...

and many leading politicians flee 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 ...

and form a

. With Dirk Jan de Geer's resignation the same year, Queen Wilhelmina appointed Gerbrandy as prime minister of the

Dutch government-in-exile The Dutch government-in-exile (), also known as the London Cabinet (), was the government in exile of the Netherlands, supervised by Queen Wilhelmina, that fled to London after the German invasion of the country during World War II on 10 May 19 ...

. He also served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Colonial Affairs.

Postwar

After the liberation of the southern Netherlands in 1945, Gerbrandy formed a new cabinet, but he resigned after the total liberation of the country. He opposed the government's Indonesian policy and from 1946 to 1950 chaired the National Committee for the Maintenance of the Kingdom's Unity, which opposed

Indonesian independence The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence (, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 Tokyo Standard Time on Friday 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of the Indonesian Nati ...

and advocated for the

Republic of South Maluku South Maluku, also South Moluccas and officially the Republic of South Maluku, was an unrecognised secessionist state that claimed the islands of Ambon, Buru, and Seram, which currently make up most of the Indonesian province of Maluku. The ...

. In 1950, Gerbrandy published ''Indonesia'', which offered an explanation of the history of the relationship between the Netherlands and the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

(now

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

) from the 1600s to 1948, which included "The Indies under Dutch rule", "The Rule of Law", "The Japanese Occupation", and "Chaos", with each section outlining Gerbrandy's observations. In 1948, Gerbrandy returned as a member of the

Dutch Parliament The States General of the Netherlands ( ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States General originated in ...

, but his hot temper alienated members of his party. In 1956, he was made member of a commission that investigated the affair surrounding Greet Hofmans. Three years later, Gerbrandy resigned as a Member of Parliament.

Personal life

On 18 May 1911, Gerbrandy married Hendrina Elisabeth Sikkel (26 February 1886 – 4 May 1980). Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy died on 7 September 1961 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 ...

, at the age of 76.

Decorations

References

External links

*
Mr.Dr. P.S. (Pieter) Gerbrandy
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerbrandy, Pieter Sjoerds 1885 births 1961 deaths Anti-Revolutionary Party politicians Dutch anti-communists Dutch expatriates in England 20th-century Dutch judges Dutch legal scholars Dutch lobbyists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch people of World War II Dutch activists Dutch political commentators Dutch political writers Dutch prosecutors Foreign policy writers Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Alumni_of_the_University_of_Edinburgh Intellectual property law scholars Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Members of the Provincial Council of Friesland Members of the Provincial-Executive of Friesland Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers of colonial affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of justice of the Netherlands Ministers of state of the Netherlands Municipal councillors in Friesland People from Sneek Politicians from The Hague Prime ministers of the Netherlands Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Reformed Churches Christians from the Netherlands Royal Netherlands Army officers Scholars of property law Scholars of competition law Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni Academic staff of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam World War II political leaders 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch military personnel 20th-century Dutch politicians Dutch MPs 1948–1952