Jacob (Jaap) van Praag (; 10 July 1910 – 7 August 1987) was a Dutch football administrator and chairman for local football club Ajax Amsterdam.

Early life

Jaap van Praag began his professional career working in the musical business of his father in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, where he was born. Unlike his father, he saw great potential in the

gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts ne ...

and started his own business on the

Spui A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thr ...

downtown, called His Master's Voice. He was forced into hiding due to the

persecution of Jews The persecution of Jews has been a major event in Jewish history, prompting shifting waves of refugees and the formation of diaspora communities. As early as 605 BCE, Jews who lived in the Neo-Babylonian Empire were persecuted and deported. ...

during

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 opposing ...

where he first found refuge staying with the uncle of former

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

player Wim Schoevaart. Two and a half years later he was hiding over a photo store on the . He was forced to sit still in a chair, motionless, and not move, because the owner of the store did not even know he was there. His first wife during this time was not Jewish and did not go into hiding with him, and left him for another man during this period. The parents of Jaap van Praag and his sister were murdered in Auschwitz. After the war, he remained an active businessman in the music world. He was also active in television, and in 1962 he hosted the game show ''Onbekend Talent'' (''Unknown Talent'') for the

VARA Vara or VARA may refer to: Geography *Vara (river), in Liguria, Italy * Vara Parish, former municipality in Tartu County, Estonia * Vara, Estonia, village in Peipsiääre Parish, Tartu County, Estonia * Vara Municipality, municipality in western S ...

, which was one of the first programs that gave young talent a chance on television.

Career

In 1964, Jaap van Praag became chairman of the Dutch Association football club

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

, and the club's golden age began. The club had just narrowly escaped relegation the previous season, so Jaap van Praag decided to hire former Ajax attacker

Rinus Michels Marinus Jacobus Hendricus Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch football player and coach. He played his entire career for AFC Ajax, which he later managed, and played for and later managed the Netherlands national team ...

as the new

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

. Together they took the club to new professional heights, with the financial help of

Maup Caransa Maurits "Maup" Caransa (5 January 1916 – 6 August 2009) was a Dutch businessman who became one of the most important real-estate developers in post-World War II Amsterdam. Caransa was the first well-known Dutch person to be kidnapped for ransom ...

and the Van der Meijden brothers amongst others. The Van der Meijden brothers were known to have collaborated with the

Nazi 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 ...

s during World War II, and are widely known as the bunkerbouwers (''bunker builders''). Jaap van Praag was legendary and admitted that he never had a difficulty

lying A lie is an assertion that is believed to be false, typically used with the purpose of deception, deceiving or Deception, misleading someone. The practice of communicating lies is called lying. A person who communicates a lie may be termed a l ...

if it was ever in the interest of his club. Famous in this respect is the statement by

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

on Jaap van Praag, stating that he was never able to catch him in a truth. Under the guidance of Van Praag, Ajax won the European Cup three times in a row from 1971 to 1973. He was succeeded at Ajax by . In 1987 Jaap van Praag died at age 77 in a traffic accident in his hometown of Amsterdam. Cees van Cuilenborg, the then C.E.O. of Voetbal International, described the life of Jaap van Praag in his obituary as a life with a smile .

Family

Jaap van Praag had four children from two marriages. From his second marriage he had a daughter named Peggy and a son named Michael. His son Michael van Praag would later follow in his fathers footsteps and was also chairman of AFC Ajax during another very successful period at the club. His son served this function from 1989 to 2003. From his third marriage he had two daughters, Pamela and the TV host and Actor Beryl van Praag. His younger brother is , who became a known singer. The newsreader Marga van Praag and Television presenter Chiel van Praag are his children, and Jaap van Praag is their uncle.

Name confusion

There is another Jaap van Praag, his namesake, a politician with whom he is often confused. Both were around the same age (born 1910 and 1911), both born in Amsterdam and both survived the war hiding in the city. In addition both played a role in broadcasting for the VARA.

Bibliography

* :nl: Simon Kuper, ''Ajax, the Dutch, the War: The Strange Tale of Soccer During Europe's Darkest Hour'', Nation Books, New York, 2012, * :nl: Marga van Praag and :nl: Ad van Liempt, ''Jaap en Max: het verhaal van de broers Van Praag'', Nijgh & Van Ditmar, Rotterdam, 2011,

References

External links

Photo collection » Ajax-chairman Jaap van Praag
at GaHetNa.nl {{DEFAULTSORT:Praag, Jaap van 1910 births 1987 deaths AFC Ajax chairmen and investors Members of the UEFA Executive Committee Dutch Jews Dutch sports executives and administrators Jewish Dutch sportspeople Sportspeople from Amsterdam Sports businesspeople Road incident deaths in the Netherlands