Anne Vondeling (2 March 1916 – 22 November 1979) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and agronomist. Vondeling studied Agronomy at the Wageningen Agricultural College obtaining a

Master of Science in Engineering A Master of Science in Engineering (abbreviated MSE, M.Sc.Eng. or MScEng) is a type of Master of Science awarded by universities in many countries. It is an academic degree to be differentiated from a Master of Engineering. A Master of Science in ...

degree and worked as a researcher at his alma mater before finishing his thesis and graduated as a

Doctor of Engineering The Doctor of Engineering, or Engineering Doctorate, (abbreviated DEng, EngD, or Dr-Ing) is a degree awarded on the basis of advanced study and a practical project in the engineering and applied science for solving problems in the industry. In th ...

Agricultural engineering Agricultural engineering, also known as agricultural and biosystems engineering, is the field of study and application of engineering science and designs principles for agriculture purposes, combining the various disciplines of mechanical, civil, ...

. Vondeling worked as an agronomist and agricultural engineer in

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

from November 1940 until July 1945 and as a director of an agricultural firm in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Stadsfries dialects, Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Fri ...

from July 1945 until January 1958. Vondeling became a Member of the House of Representatives shortly after the election of 1946 on 25 July 1946 and served as a

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kn ...

and

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

. Vondeling was appointed as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies in the Cabinet Drees III following a cabinet reshuffle taking office on 13 January 1958. The Cabinet Drees III fell just 11 months later and was replaced on 22 December 1958. Shortly thereafter

Labour Leader The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again. 19th century The origins of the ...

Willem Drees Willem () is a Dutch and West FrisianRienk de Haan, ''Fryske Foarnammen'', Leeuwarden, 2002 (Friese Pers Boekerij), , p. 158. masculine given name. The name is Germanic, and can be seen as the Dutch equivalent of the name William in English, G ...

announced his retirement and Vondeling served as one of the ''

Lijsttrekker In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the leader of a political party in an election to a legislative body. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government. In open list electoral systems, it is ...

s'' (top candidates) for the election of 1959. After the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

Vondeling return to the House of Representatives on 20 March 1959 and served as a frontbencher and spokesperson for

Finances Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fin ...

. Vondeling also worked as a professor of Agricultural science and

International relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is th ...

from January 1960 until January 1963. After the Labour Leader 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 legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are their ...

Jaap Burger announced he was stepping down Vondeling was anonymously selected as his successor on 16 September 1962. Huang Hua (l) met Vondeling, Bestanddeelnr 929-7645

Huang Hua (l) met Vondeling, Bestanddeelnr 929-7645

For the election of 1963 Vondeling served again as one of the ''Lijsttrekkers''. After the fall of the Cabinet Marijnen a successful cabinet formation formed the Cabinet Cals with Vondeling appointed as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

and

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

taking office on 14 April 1965. In September 1966 Vondeling unexpectedly announced that he was stepping down as Leader but continued to serve in the cabinet. The cabinet Cals fell just one year into its term after a major

political crisis Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

and was replaced on 22 November 1966. After the election of 1967 Vondeling returned to the House of Representatives on 23 February 1967 and served again as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Finances. Vondeling also served as Party Chairman from 7 March 1969 until 1 May 1971. After the election of 1972 Vondeling was elected as

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

on 7 December 1972. After the election of 1977 Vondeling was re-elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives. In May 1979 Vondeling announced that he would stand for the European Parliament election of 1979 and would resigned from the House of Representatives. After the European election Vondeling was elected as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

and became Delegation leader on 17 July 1979. On 22 November 1979 Vondeling died after suffering a fatal car crash in Mechelen,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

at 63. The Anne Vondeling prize is given annually to journalists who write in a clear manner concerning political subjects.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Dr.Ir. A. (Anne) Vondeling
Parlement & Politiek 1916 births 1979 deaths Agriculturalists Agricultural engineers Chairmen of the Labour Party (Netherlands) Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Deputy Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Dutch accountants Dutch agronomists Dutch civil engineers Dutch people of World War II Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur International relations scholars Labour Party (Netherlands) MEPs Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences MEPs for the Netherlands 1979–1984 Ministers of Agriculture of the Netherlands Ministers of Finance of the Netherlands People from Leeuwarden People from Ooststellingwerf Recipients of the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II Road incident deaths in Belgium Speakers of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) University of Groningen faculty Wageningen University and Research alumni 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch engineers 20th-century Dutch politicians 20th-century Dutch scientists {{Netherlands-MEP-stub