Eelco Nicolaas van Kleffens (17 November 1894 – 17 June 1983) was a Dutch politician and diplomat.

Biography

Eelco van Kleffens descended from an old Frisian family of public servants. He was the son of Henricus Cato and Jeannette Frésine (Veenhoven) van Kleffens. His younger brother Adrianus van Kleffens would later become a judge at the European Court of Justice. He married Margaret Helen Horstmann on 4 April 1935. After receiving a

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...

degree from Leiden University, van Kleffens worked in the Secretariat of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. He became secretary to the Directorate of Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. in 1920. He was appointed Assistant Director of the Legal Section of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1922 and of the Diplomatic Section in 1927, becoming Director of the latter in 1929. In the early 1930s he was also Secretary-General of

The Hague Academy of International Law The Hague Academy of International Law (french: Académie de droit international de La Haye) is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Courses are taugh ...

. Van Kleffens was appointed the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

in 1939, weeks 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 ...

began, and was part of the

Dutch government in exile The Dutch government-in-exile ( nl, Nederlandse regering in ballingschap), also known as the London Cabinet ( nl, Londens kabinet), was the government in exile of the Netherlands, supervised by Queen Wilhelmina, that fled to London after the Germ ...

over that period. During the war he penned an account of the German invasion named ''Juggernaut over Holland'' which was circulated within the occupied territory, and he was also one of the original signatories of the

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico- economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: ...

union. Van Kleffens held the position of foreign minister until the Schermerhorn/Drees cabinet of 1946. Following his resignation from the ministerial position (but not from the cabinet) van Kleffens became the Netherlands' representative on the United Nations

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

, and in 1947 was appointed the ambassador to the United States. In 1950 he became the ambassador to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, and was bestowed the title of

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

, a prestigious honour. In 1954 van Kleffens was appointed to the position of

President of the United Nations General Assembly The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly. Election ...

for that body's ninth session. Van Kleffens was the Dutch representative at

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...

from 1956 to 1958, and at the European Coal and Steel Community from 1958 until 1967, after which Van Kleffens retired to

, where he died on 17 June 1983.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Mr. E.N. (Eelco) van Kleffens
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Kleffens, Eelco van 1894 births 1983 deaths Ambassadors of the Netherlands to Portugal Ambassadors of the Netherlands to the United States Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Dutch jurists Dutch expatriates in Belgium Dutch expatriates in England Dutch expatriates in Portugal Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch people of World War II Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit (Portugal) The Hague Academy of International Law people Independent politicians in the Netherlands Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Leiden University alumni Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of State (Netherlands) Ministers without portfolio of the Netherlands OECD officials Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe People from Heerenveen People from Sintra Permanent Representatives of the Netherlands to NATO Permanent Representatives of the Netherlands to the United Nations Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly Rectors of universities in the Netherlands 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch diplomats 20th-century Dutch politicians