Aäron "Arie" Pais (16 April 1930 – 25 June 2022) was a Dutch politician of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

(VVD) and economist.

Early life and education

Pais was of

Jewish descent ''Zera Yisrael'' ( he, זרע ישראל, , meaning "Seed fIsrael") is a legal category in Jewish law that denotes the blood descendants of Jews who, for one reason or another, are not legally of Jewish ethnicity according to religious criteria. ...

. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he attended from 1942 on his secondary education at gymnasium level at the Jewish Lyceum in Amsterdam. Due to persecutions of the Jewish population during this war, he went into hiding with his family in Barneveld and thus survived the war. After the war, Pais continued his secondary education at the

Vossius Gymnasium Vossius Gymnasium is a public gymnasium in Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands. It was established in 1926 and is named after Gerardus Vossius. In 2014, it was ranked best VWO school in Amsterdam and 4th in the country by RTL Nieuws. It is a ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

between 1945 and 1948, and then studied at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

where he received his doctorandus degree (equivalent to MSc) in

social economics Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their local ...

in 1954. After this study, Pais was appointed as a researcher at this university where he subsequently obtained his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

(PhD) in

economic sciences Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

in 1973.

Career

Pais worked as a financial analyst for the

KPN KPN (in full Koninklijke KPN N.V., also Royal KPN N.V.) is a Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. History Un ...

from July 1958 until April 1974. Pais served on 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, rural counci ...

of Amsterdam from September 1958 until December 1961 and served on the Provincial-Council of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

from June 1970 until July 1970. Pais worked as a professor of

Public economics Public economics ''(or economics of the public sector)'' is the study of government policy through the lens of economic efficiency and equity. Public economics builds on the theory of welfare economics and is ultimately used as a tool to improve ...

at the

from April 1974 until 19 December 1977 Pais was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1977, taking office on 20 September 1977 serving 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

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 ...

. After the election of 1977 Pais was appointed as Minister of Education and Sciences in the Cabinet Van Agt-Wiegel, taking office on 19 December 1977. In January 1981 Pais announced that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1981 but wanted to return to the Senate. After the Senate election of 1981 Pais returned as a Member of the Senate, taking office on 25 August 1981. The Cabinet Van Agt-Wiegel was replaced by the Cabinet Van Agt II following the cabinet formation of 1981 on 11 September 1981 and he continued to serve in the Senate serving a frontbencher chairing the parliamentary committee for Finances and spokesperson for Finances.

Personal life

He was married to Dutch politician and diplomat

Eegje Schoo Eegje Marjolein Schoo (born 10 June 1944) is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). She served as Minister for Development Cooperation from 4 November 1982 until 14 July 1986 in the Cab ...

from 1970 until his death. Pais died in 2022 at the age of 92.Oud-minister van Onderwijs Arie Pais overleden, zaterdag 2 juli 2022
- website parlement.com

Honours

References

External links

;Official *
Dr. A. (Arie) Pais
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Pais, Arie 1930 births 2022 deaths Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Dutch academic administrators Dutch autobiographers Dutch bankers Dutch corporate directors Dutch education writers Dutch expatriates in Luxembourg Dutch memoirists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch Sephardi Jews Dutch people of Portuguese-Jewish descent Dutch people of World War II Jewish Dutch politicians Jewish educators Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Ministers of Education of the Netherlands Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Municipal councillors of Amsterdam Politicians from The Hague People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Dutch Reform Jews University of Amsterdam alumni Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam 20th-century Dutch economists 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians 20th-century Sephardi Jews 21st-century Dutch male writers Sephardi Reform Jews