Biography:Jelle Zijlstra

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Short description: 42nd Prime Minister of the Netherlands
His Excellency

Jelle Zijlstra
Jelle Zijlstra 1966 (cropped).jpg
Zijlstra in 1966
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office
22 November 1966 – 5 April 1967
MonarchJuliana
DeputyJan de Quay
Barend Biesheuvel
Preceded byJo Cals
Succeeded byPiet de Jong
President of De
Nederlandsche Bank
In office
1 May 1967 – 1 January 1982
Preceded byMarius Holtrop
Succeeded byWim Duisenberg
Member of the Social
and Economic Council
In office
10 May 1967 – 18 December 1981
ChairmanJan de Pous
Member of the Senate
In office
25 June 1963 – 22 November 1966
Parliamentary groupAnti-Revolutionary Party
Minister of Finance
In office
22 November 1966 – 5 April 1967
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byAnne Vondeling
Succeeded byJohan Witteveen
In office
22 December 1958 – 24 July 1963
Prime MinisterLouis Beel (1958–1959)
Jan de Quay (1959–1963)
Preceded byHenk Hofstra
Succeeded byJohan Witteveen
Member of the House
of Representatives
In office
20 March 1959 – 26 May 1959
In office
3 July 1956 – 13 October 1956
Parliamentary groupAnti-Revolutionary Party
Parliamentary leader in the
House of Representatives
In office
3 July 1956 – 3 October 1956
Preceded byJan Schouten
Succeeded bySieuwert Bruins Slot
Parliamentary groupAnti-Revolutionary Party
Leader of the
Anti-Revolutionary Party
In office
29 December 1958 – 26 May 1959
DeputySieuwert Bruins Slot
Preceded bySieuwert Bruins Slot
Succeeded bySieuwert Bruins Slot
In office
23 April 1956 – 3 October 1956
DeputySieuwert Bruins Slot
Preceded byJan Schouten
Succeeded bySieuwert Bruins Slot
Minister of Economic Affairs
In office
2 September 1952 – 19 May 1959
Prime MinisterWillem Drees (1952–1958)
Louis Beel (1958–1959)
Preceded byJan van den Brink
Succeeded byJan de Pous
Personal details
Born
Jelle Zijlstra

(1918-08-27)27 August 1918
Oosterbierum, Netherlands
Died23 December 2001(2001-12-23) (aged 83)
Wassenaar, Netherlands
Cause of deathDementia
NationalityDutch
Political partyChristian Democratic Appeal
(from 1980)
Other political
affiliations
Anti-Revolutionary Party
(until 1980)
RelativesRinse Zijlstra (brother)
Alma materRotterdam School of Economics
(BEc, M.Econ, PhD)
OccupationPolitician · civil servant · Economist · Businessperson · Banker · Corporate director · Nonprofit director · Author · professor
Military service
Allegiance Netherlands
Branch/serviceRoyal Netherlands Army
Years of service1939–1940 (Conscription)
1940 (Active duty)
RankNl-landmacht-eerste luitenant.svg Lieutenant
Battles/warsWorld War II
  • Battle of the Netherlands
  • Battle of France

Jelle Zijlstra (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjɛlə ˈzɛilstraː]; 27 August 1918 – 23 December 2001) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) now the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and economist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 November 1966 until 5 April 1967.[1][2]

Zijlstra studied Economics at the Rotterdam School of Economics obtaining a Master of Economics degree and worked as a researcher and lecturer at his alma mater before finishing his thesis and graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy in Public economics and worked as a professor of Public economics at the Free University Amsterdam from October 1948 until September 1952. After the election of 1952 Zijlstra was appointed as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cabinet Drees II taking office on 2 September 1952. After Party Leader Jan Schouten announced his retirement Zijlstra was selected his successor as Leader on 23 April 1956. For the election of 1956 Zijlstra served as Lijsttrekker (top candidate) and was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives and Parliamentary leader taking office on 3 July 1956. Following a cabinet formation Zijlstra continued as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cabinet Drees III and stepped down as Leader and Parliamentary leader on 3 October 1956. The Cabinet Drees III fell on 11 December 1958 and was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Beel II with Zijlstra retaining his position and also becoming Minister of Finance taking office on 22 December 1958. For the election of 1959 Zijlstra again served as Lijsttrekker. Following a cabinet formation Zijlstra continued as Minister of Finance in the Cabinet De Quay. In September 1962 Zijlstra announced that he wouldn't not stand for the election of 1963 and declined to serve in new cabinet. Zijlstra returned as a distinguished professor of Public economics at the Free University Amsterdam and was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1963 taking office on 25 June 1963 serving as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Finance. Zijlstra also served as director of the Abraham Kuyper Foundation from August 1963 until November 1966.

Zijlstra continued to be active in politics and in September 1966 was nominated as the next President of the Central Bank. However, after a political crisis, he was persuaded to lead an interim cabinet until the next election. Zijlstra formed the caretaker Cabinet Zijlstra and became Prime Minister of the Netherlands and dual served as Minister of Finances taking office on 22 November 1966. Before the election of 1967 Zijlstra indicated that he wouldn't serve another term as prime minister and opted to accepted the nomination as head of the Central Bank. Zijlstra left office following the installation of the Cabinet De Jong on 5 April 1967 and was confirmed as chief of the Central Bank serving from 1 May 1967 until 1 January 1982.

Zijlstra retired from active politics at 63 and became active in the private and public sectors as a corporate and non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government, and continued to be active in advocating for a balanced governmental budget. Zijlstra was known for his abilities as skillful manager and effective debater. Zijlstra was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 30 April 1983 and continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death from dementia-related illness at the age of 83. He holds the distinction as the shortest-serving Prime Minister after World War II and his premiership is therefore usually omitted both by scholars and the public in rankings but his legacy as a Minister in the 1950s and 60s and later as President of the Central Bank continue to this day.[3][4][5][6][7]

Biography

Early life

Jelle Zijlstra was born on 27 August 1918 in Oosterbierum in the province of Friesland in a Reformed family, the son of Ane Jelle Zijlstra (born 14 November 1879) and Pietje Postuma (born 6 March 1897), both of which had also been born in the village. After completing his secondary education he studied at the Netherlands School of Economics, the predecessor of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. His studies were interrupted twice: first by his period of military service and later when he had to go into hiding in 1942 after refusing to sign the loyalty oath required of students by the Nazi occupation authorities. Even so, he completed his economics degree in October 1945 as a Master of Economics.

Immediately after graduating, Zijlstra became a research assistant at the Netherlands School of Economics and was promoted a year later to senior research assistant and in 1947 to lecturer. In 1948 he was awarded a doctorate as a Doctor of Philosophy with cum laude for his thesis on the rate of circulation of money and its bearing on the value of money and monetary equilibrium. In the same year he was appointed professor of economics at the Vrije Universiteit.

Prime Minister Jelle Zijlstra and Minister of Finance of West Germany Franz Josef Strauss during a meeting at the Peace Palace in The Hague on 16 January 1967.

Politics

Representing the Anti-Revolutionary Party, Zijlstra successively served as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Drees II, Drees III and Beel II cabinets, and as Minister of Finance in the Beel II and De Quay cabinets between 2 September 1952 and 24 July 1963.

Following his ministerial career, Zijlstra returned to the Vrije Universiteit as professor of public finance, though he also served between 1963 and 1966 as a member of the Senate. In 1973 Zijlstra became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.[8] After the fall of the Cabinet Cals, Zijlstra headed an interim government as Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of Finance between 22 November 1966 until 5 April 1967.

From 1967 until the end of 1981 he was President of De Nederlandsche Bank, the central bank of the Netherlands, and in the course of that period he was also President of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel. He has sat on many boards in the public and private sectors.

Personal

On 11 March 1946 Zijlstra married his childhood sweetheart Hetty Bloksma (30 January 1921 – 19 November 2013).[9][10] They had three daughters and two sons, who were born between 1947 and 1961. The last months of life were dominated by his deteriorating health, and he suffered from dementia. Jelle Zijlstra died in Wassenaar on 23 December 2001 at the age of eighty-three Zijlstra, and was buried at the cemetery of the local Reformed Church in Wassenaar. His younger brother Rinse Zijlstra (19 April 1927 – 26 September 2017) was also a member of the House of Representatives, serving from 23 February 1967 until 10 May 1971 and a Senator serving from 12 April 1983 until 13 June 1995 for the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Democratic Appeal.[11]

Decorations

Military decorations
Ribbon bar Decoration Country Date Comment
Oorlogsherinneringskruis 1940-1945.gif War Memorial Cross Netherlands 5 May 1946
Ribbon of the Mobilisatie-Oorlogskruis 1939-1945.gif Mobilisation War Cross Netherlands 31 August 1948
Honours
Ribbon bar Honour Country Date Comment
AUT Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria - 2nd Class BAR.png Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash of the
Decoration of Honour for Services
Austria 1958
BEL Kroonorde Grootkruis BAR.svg Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown Belgium 10 December 1966
NLD Order of Orange-Nassau - Knight Grand Cross BAR.png Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Netherlands 27 April 1967
NED Huisorde van Oranje A1 BAR.png Grand Cross of the Order of the House of Orange Netherlands 27 August 1978
NLD Order of the Dutch Lion - Grand Cross BAR.png Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Netherlands 18 November 1981 Elevated from Commander (27 July 1963)
Honorific Titles
Ribbon bar Honour Country Date Comment
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Minister of State Netherlands 30 April 1983 Style of Excellency

References

External links

Official
Party political offices
Preceded by
Jan Schouten
1952
Lijsttrekker of the
Anti-Revolutionary Party

1956 • 1959
Succeeded by
Barend Biesheuvel
1963
Preceded by
Jan Schouten
Leader of the
Anti-Revolutionary Party

1956
1958–1959
Succeeded by
Sieuwert Bruins Slot
Preceded by
Sieuwert Bruins Slot
Preceded by
Jan Schouten
Parliamentary leader of the
Anti-Revolutionary Party in the
House of Representatives

1956
Political offices
Preceded by
Jan van den Brink
Minister of Economic Affairs
1952–1959
Succeeded by
Jan de Pous
Preceded by
Henk Hofstra
Minister of Finance
1958–1963
1966–1967
Succeeded by
Johan Witteveen
Preceded by
Anne Vondeling
Preceded by
Jo Cals
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
1966–1967
Succeeded by
Piet de Jong
Minister of General Affairs
1966–1967
Civic offices
Preceded by
Marius Holtrop
President of De
Nederlandsche Bank

1967–1982
Succeeded by
Wim Duisenberg
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by
Jan Schouten
Director of the
Abraham Kuyper Foundation

1963–1966
Succeeded by
Wim Hoogendijk