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 researcher at the Delft Polytechnic School from May 1896 until July 1903 and also as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper ''Studenten-Weekblad'' from April 1898 until July 1903. Albarda worked as a math teacher from August 1903 until September 1911 in

Almelo Almelo () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres in the town are Aadorp, Almelo, Mariaparochie, and Bornerbroek. Almelo has about 72,000 inhabitants in the middle o ...

from August 1903 until February 1905 and 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 ...

from February 1905 until November 1911 and as a civil servant for municipality of

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 ...

as director of the Social Service from November 1911 until September 1913. Albarda was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1913, taking office on 16 September 1913. After the Leader of the Social Democratic Workers' Party and

parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...

of the Social Democratic Workers' Party in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

Pieter Jelles Troelstra Pieter Jelles Troelstra (; 20 April 186012 May 1930) was a Dutch lawyer, journalist and politician active in the socialist workers' movement. He is most remembered for his fight for universal suffrage and his failed call for revolution at the en ...

announced his retirement from national politics and that he would not stand for the election of 1925 Albarda was selected as his successor as leader on 12 July 1925 and became parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives on 15 September 1925. On 27 July 1939, the fifth Colijn cabinet was dismissed by Queen Wilhelmina and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the second De Geer cabinet with Albarda appointed as Minister of Water Management, taking office on 10 August 1939. On 10 May 1940,

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

invaded the Netherlands and the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

fled to London to escape the German occupation. On 14 May 1940, Albarda announced that he was stepping down as party leader in favor of parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives

Willem Drees Willem Drees Sr. (; 5 July 1886 – 14 May 1988) was a Dutch politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands), Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA) ...

. The second De Geer cabinet fell on 26 August 1940 after a conflict between Queen Wilhelmina and Prime Minister Dirk Jan de Geer and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the first Gerbrandy cabinet with Albarda continuing as of Minister of Water Management, taking office on 3 September 1940. The first Gerbrandy cabinet fell on 12 June 1941 after a conflict between Queen Wilhelmina and

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Adriaan Dijxhoorn and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the second Gerbrandy cabinet with Albarda continuing as of Minister of Water Management, taking office on 27 July 1941. Albarda was appointed as

Minister 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 portfolio ...

following the resignation of Max Steenberghe and dual served in both positions, taking office on 17 November 1941. On 9 December 1942, Albarda resigned as Minister of Finance following the appointment of Johannes van den Broek but continued as Minister of Water Management. On 27 January 1945, Prime Minister Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy forced

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 ...

Jaap Burger to resign following an impromptu remark during a radio address where Burger differentiated between "wrongful" Dutch civilians (''foute Nederlanders'') and Dutch civilians who made a mistake (''Nederlanders die een fout hebben gemaakt'') but because Prime Minister Gerbrandy did not discuss this with rest of the cabinet, all the Social Democratic Workers' Party cabinet members announced their resignation and the cabinet continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the third Gerbrandy cabinet on 23 February 1945. Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Albarda remained active in politics. In August 1945, he was nominated as a Member of the Council of State, serving from 28 August 1945 until 1 July 1952. The Albardastraat in The Hague is named after him.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Ir. J.W. (Willem) Albarda
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Albarda, Willem 1877 births 1957 deaths Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Delft University of Technology alumni Academic staff of the Delft University of Technology Dutch civil engineers Dutch expatriates in England Dutch magazine editors Dutch newspaper editors Dutch people of World War II Dutch political party founders Dutch political writers Dutch social workers Grand Officers of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Leaders of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands) Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Provincial Council of South Holland Ministers of finance of the Netherlands Ministers of transport and water management of the Netherlands Municipal councillors of The Hague Politicians from Leeuwarden Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands) politicians Writers from The Hague 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch engineers 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians