Thomas Bastiaan Pleyte (23 October 1864 in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

– 25 March 1926 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 ...

) was a Dutch

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. Pleyte was Minister of the Colonies in the cabinet of

Pieter Cort van der Linden Pieter Wilhelm Adrianus Cort van der Linden (14 May 1846 – 15 July 1935) was a Dutch politician who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from August 1913 to September 1918. Biography He was the last prime minister to lead a liberal ...

. He became known as a liberal minister who founded the People's Council in 1916, a move that is widely regarded as the important first step to give the native population of the

Netherlands 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, ...

) an equal say in government. Pleyte was fluent in Malay and Javanese.

References

, - 1864 births 1926 deaths Ministers of colonial affairs of the Netherlands 19th-century Dutch lawyers Politicians from Leiden Leiden University alumni {{Netherlands-politician-stub