Theodorus Jozef Franciscus Marie "Theo" Bovens (; born 1 October 1959) is a Dutch politician who has served as leader of 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 ...

in 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 ...

since 13 June 2023. He previously served as the King's Commissioner of Limburg from 30 June 2011 until 19 April 2021. He was acting mayor of

Enschede Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...

from 2 October 2021 until 1 February 2022. A member of the

, he was a member of 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 ...

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

from 1986 to 2002 and served as one of the city's aldermen from 1994 to 2003. From 2003 to 2005 he was Vice Chairman of the

Open University in the Netherlands The Open University of the Netherlands () is a Dutch institution for distance learning at university level. It is an independent government-funded university and uses a variety of methods, including written materials, the Internet, and occasi ...

and from 2005 until 2011 he served as chairman. From 2006 to 2011 he was also a member of the

Social and Economic Council The Social and Economic Council (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Sociaal-Economische Raad'', SER) is a major economic advisory council to the cabinet of the Netherlands. Formally it heads a Publiekrechtelijke Bedrijfsorganisatie, system of sector-based ...

. Bovens was born in

and studied

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, , formerly ) is a public university, public research university located in Nijmegen, Netherlands. RU has seven faculties and more than 24,000 students. Established in 1923, Radboud University has consistentl ...

. He is married and has a daughter.

Honours and awards

*: Knight of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

Commissaris van de koning: CV en Nevenfuncties
- website of the Limburg Province *: Knight of the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre may refer to: * Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic), chivalric order belonging to the Holy See (the Roman Catholic Church) * Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Orthodox), chivalric ...

(14 April 2007)

References

Parlement.com biography
1959 births Living people 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch politicians Aldermen in Limburg (Netherlands) Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Dutch Roman Catholics King's and Queen's Commissioners of Limburg Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Mayors of Enschede Municipal councillors of Maastricht Politicians from Maastricht Radboud University Nijmegen alumni {{Netherlands-CDA-politician-stub