Hendrik Jan "Henk" Zeevalking (7 June 1922 – 23 February 2005) was a Dutch politician and co-founder of the

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 ...

(D66) party and jurist. Zeevalking attended a Gymnasium in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

from April 1934 until June 1940 and applied at the

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

in January 1946

majoring An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conc ...

in Law and obtaining a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree in August 1946 before graduating with a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree in December 1947. Zeevalking worked as a researcher at the Utrecht University from December 1947 until February 1950. Zeevalking worked as a

criminal defense lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ...

from February 1950 until September 1970. Zeevalking 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 Utrecht from April 1970 until June 1975 and served as an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

in Utrecht from September 1970 until September 1974. Zeevalking served as acting Mayor of Utrecht from 1 February 1974 until 6 September 1974 following the retirement of Hans van Tuyll van Serooskerken. Zeevalking was appointed as State Secretary for Justice in the Cabinet Den Uyl following the resignation of

Jan Glastra van Loon Jan Frederik Glastra van Loon (16 March 1920 – 22 October 2001) was a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; abbreviated D66, ) is a Social liberalism, social liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, politica ...

, taking office on 6 June 1975. The Cabinet Den Uyl fell on 22 March 1977 after four years of tensions in the coalition and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity. Zeevalking was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1977, taking office on 8 June 1977 but he was still serving in the cabinet and because of

dualism Dualism most commonly refers to: * Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another ** ...

customs in the

constitutional convention Constitutional convention may refer to: * Constitutional convention (political custom), an informal and uncodified procedural agreement *Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an e ...

of Dutch politics he couldn't serve a

dual mandate A dual mandate is the practice in which elected officials serve in more than one elected or other public position simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain and ''cumul des mandats'' in France; not to be confused ...

he subsequently resigned as State Secretary for Justice on 8 September 1977. In December 1978 Zeevalking was nominated as Mayor of Rijswijk, he was installed as Mayor, taking office on 16 January 1979 and subsequently resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives on 24 January 1979. Zeevalking also served as Chairman of the Democrats 66 from 27 October 1979 until 11 September 1981. After the election of 1981 Zeevalking was appointed as Minister of Transport and Water Management in the Cabinet Van Agt II, taking office on 11 September 1981. The Cabinet Van Agt II fell just seven months into its term on 12 May 1982 after months of tensions in the coalition and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the first cabinet formation of 1982 when it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Van Agt III with Zeevalking continuing as Minister of Transport and Water Management, taking office on 29 May 1982. In August 1982 Zeevalking announced his retirement from national politics and that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1982. The Cabinet Van Agt III was replaced by the Cabinet Lubbers I following the second cabinet formation of 1982 on 4 November 1982.

Biography

Early life

Hendrik Jan Zeevalking was born on 7 June 1922 in a Dutch Reformed family in

Laag-Keppel Laag-Keppel is a small city with city privileges (since 1404) between Doetinchem and Doesburg Doesburg () is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Gelderland. Doesburg received city rights in 1237 and had a ...

, a village in the municipality

Bronckhorst Bronckhorst () is a municipality in Gelderland, the Netherlands. The municipality is the result of a merger of the former municipalities Hengelo, Hummelo en Keppel, Steenderen, Vorden and Zelhem, on 1 January 2005. The municipality is named afte ...

situated in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

. He studied Law at the

from 1946 until 1947.

Politics

He was co-founder of the

social-liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

political party

(D66) in 1966. He served as vicechair of the party from 1968 to 1969 and as chair from 1979 to 1981. He served as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of traffic and public works in

(1970–1974). He was State Secretary for

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

in the

Den Uyl cabinet The Den Uyl cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Dutch Government from 11 May 1973 until 19 December 1977. The cabinet was formed by the social-democratic Labour ...

(1975–1977),

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Rijswijk Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in , and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also includes th ...

(1979–1981), and Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management (1981–1982). Zeevalking was a member of the

Protestant Church in the Netherlands The Protestant Church in the Netherlands ( nl, de Protestantse Kerk in Nederland, abbreviated PKN) is the largest Protestant denomination in the Netherlands, being both Calvinist and Lutheran. It was founded on 1 May 2004 as the merger of the ...

. He was also an active

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and published several books on freemasonry.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Mr. H.J. (Henk) Zeevalking
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeevalking, Henk 1922 births 2005 deaths Aldermen of Utrecht Chairmen of the Democrats 66 Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Academic staff of the Delft University of Technology Dutch academic administrators Dutch Freemasons Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch political party founders Dutch political writers Grand Officers of the Order of Leopold II Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Mayors in South Holland People from Rijswijk Mayors of Utrecht Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers of Transport and Water Management of the Netherlands Municipal councillors of Utrecht (city) Officiers of the Légion d'honneur People from Bronckhorst People from Delft People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands State Secretaries for Justice of the Netherlands Utrecht University alumni Academic staff of Utrecht University 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch lawyers 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians