Gerardina Maria Paulina "Dien" Cornelissen (8 May 1924 – 25 May 2015) was a Dutch politician and social worker. She started her political career in the municipal council of Boxmeer for the

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party ( nl, Katholieke Volkspartij, KVP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as a continuation of the Roman Catholic State Party, which was a continuation of ...

in 1958, where she would continue until 1972. Between 1962 and 1978 she was member of the

States of North Brabant The Provincial Council of North Brabant ( nl, Provinciale Staten van Noord-Brabant), also known as the States of North Brabant, is the provincial council of North Brabant, Netherlands. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 55 seats a ...

. Between 1969 and 1971 she served a two-year stint in the Dutch Senate. She was member of the House of Representatives from 1971 for fifteen years, with a half year hiatus.

Career

Cornelissen was born on 8 May 1924 in Oploo. Cornelissen had a total of eleven siblings. She went to a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

in Schijndel and later the mulo until 1939. From 1946 to 1948 she worked at an organisation which aided war victims. In 1948 she became active for a foundation for social work in the countryside. Apart from her primary education she followed courses in social work and followed an education at the Social Academy in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Boxmeer for the

. Cornelissen was the first female member of the council and stayed on until 1972. While serving in the council she was elected to the

in 1962 of which she stayed member until 1978. She was elected member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

by the

States-Provincial The provincial council (, PS), also known as the States Provincial, is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the provinces of the Netherlands. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has ...

in 1969. In the Senate she was the party representative on the topic of justice. She was member until she was elected to the House of Representatives of which she became member shortly after the 1971 general election. She served in the House from 21 September 1971 to 7 December 1972 and subsequently from 28 May 1973 to 3 June 1986. In the House she was occupied with public health, social work and justice. In 1980 the

was dissolved and merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) of which Cornelissen became member. In 1981 she was one of sixteen CDA members in the House that voted against the statute of the proposed coalition government of CDA, PvdA and

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; abbreviated D66, ) is a Social liberalism, social liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands, which positions itself in the Centrism, centre of the Left–right political spectrum, p ...

. Between 1981 and 1986 she was also first deputy President of the House.

Personal life

Apart from her political career Cornelissen served in numerous organisations on boards and advice committees mainly relating to social work, education and health. Cornelissen was made Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion on 29 April 1982. She was made a Commander in the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

on 18 March 1993. In 1989 she received the honorary medal of the province of

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the we ...

. In 2008 she was named an honorary citizen of Boxmeer, as of 2015 the only person to have been named such. Cornelissen never married. She died in Boxmeer on 25 May 2015, aged 91.

References

External links

*
Parlement.com biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelissen, Dien 1924 births 2015 deaths Catholic People's Party politicians 20th-century Dutch politicians Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Dutch social workers Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Provincial Council of North Brabant Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Municipal councillors of Boxmeer People from Sint Anthonis