Gerrit Abraham van Poelje (January 31, 1884, in

Naaldwijk Naaldwijk () is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Westland, and lies about 10 km southwest of The Hague. Naaldwijk lies in the heart of Westland. The largest economic sector is greenhouse ho ...

– September 8, 1976, in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

) was a Dutch civil servant, lawyer and Public Administration scholar. He is considered one of the most important founders of the science of

Public Administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Van Poelje was born on January 31, 1884, in Maasdijk (in the municipality of Naaldwijk) as the son of Izaak Lodewijk Anthonie, a teacher, and Christine Marie Antoinette Garbrij. Just like his father, Van Poelje aspired to a career as a teacher. He did not succeed in that profession however, because of speech impediment resulting from a

harelip A cleft lip contains an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. The opening may be on one side, both sides, or in the middle. A cleft palate occurs when the palate (the roof of the mouth) contains an opening into the nose. The te ...

. He then studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

, where he also obtained his doctorate in law. In 1914, he married Lucie Charlotte Hansen. They had two children. Van Poelje's professional career in the municipal administration progressed rapidly and in 1919 he became a top civil servant in the municipality of The Hague. Because he was taught to write with his right hand, although he was left-handed, his writing was barely readable. Therefore, the municipality of The Hague procured a

typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...

at his request, although the mayor thought that one could not write his ideas on paper when using a typewriter. In 1928 Van Poelje accepted a professorship in the science of Public Administration at the Nederlandsche Handels-Hoogeschool in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

(presently known as the

Erasmus University Erasmus University Rotterdam (abbreviated as ''EUR'', nl, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam ) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humanist ...

in Rotterdam), In this function Van Poelje could develop the Dutch science of Public Administration. Van Poelje remained professor until 1933, when he became secretary-general of the ministry of education, arts and sciences, a function he held until 1940, when the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

invaded The Netherlands. During the

Second World War 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 ...

Van Poelje was interned by the German occupying forces on September 2, 1940, first in the Scheveningen prison, later on in Büchenwald,

Merseburg Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese ...

and Halle. After the Second World War Van Poelje was appointed a member of the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

in August 1945, where he had a dominant input. He served in this function until his retirement in 1958. The

Dutch Association for Public Administration The Vereniging voor Bestuurskunde (Dutch Association for Public Administration) was established in 1973 as a platform for people interested in the field of public administration. It aims to give people the opportunity to gain knowledge about develo ...

has linked the name of Van Poelje to its renowned prize for the best publication in the science of Public Administration.

References

biography Gerrit van Poelje Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenisbiography Gerrit van Poelje parlement.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poelje, Gerrit van 1884 births 1976 deaths Dutch civil servants Dutch public administration scholars Leiden University alumni Academic staff of Erasmus University Rotterdam People from Naaldwijk