Jan de Koning (31 August 1926 – 8 October 1994) was a Dutch politician of the defunct

Anti-Revolutionary Party The Anti-Revolutionary Party ( nl, Anti-Revolutionaire Partij, ARP) was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and m ...

(ARP) and later the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary ...

(CDA) party and social geographer. De Koning joined the Dutch resistance against the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

in September 1943 and was at the time barely 17-years old. Following the end of

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

De Koning volunteered and enlisted in the

Royal Netherlands East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The ...

as a

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

serving in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

from August 1945 until June 1948. De Koning studied

Social geography Social geography is the branch of human geography that is interested in the relationships between society and space, and is most closely related to social theory in general and sociology in particular, dealing with the relation of social phenomena ...

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 ...

obtaining a

Master of Social Science A Master of Social Science (MSocSc, MSSc or MSS) is a master's degree which has a number of different meanings dependent upon the education system in question. Europe In Finland and Sweden, where the university degree nomenclatura is simply bas ...

degree. De Koning worked as a trade association executive for the Christian Farmers and Gardeners association (CBTB) from February 1955 until May 1971 and as a researcher at the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences from November 1961 until January 1964. After the Senate election of 1969 De Koning was elected as a Member of the Senate on 16 September 1969 and served as a

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kno ...

and

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. After the election of 1971 De Koning was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives on 10 May 1971 and served as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Agriculture and

Development Cooperation Development aid is a type of foreign/international/overseas aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. Closely-related concepts include: developm ...

. De Koning was also selected as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

on 22 September 1971 and dual served in both positions and served as Party Chairman from 11 May 1973 until 13 December 1975. After the election of 1977 De Koning was appointed as

Minister for Development Cooperation The Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation ( nl, Minister voor Buitenlandse Handel en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking) is a Minister without Portfolio (Netherlands), Minister without Portfolio in the Netherlands. The officeholder, who i ...

in the Cabinet Van Agt-Wiegel, taking office on 19 December 1977. After the election of 1981 De Koning was appointed as

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom cabinet position, responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The post was originally named President of the Board of Agriculture and was created in 1889. ...

in the Cabinet Van Agt II taking office on 11 September 1981. The Cabinet Van Agt II fell just seven months into its term and was replaced by the

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Caretaker'' (film), a 1963 adaptation of the play ''The Caretaker'' * '' The Caretakers'', a 1963 American film set in a mental hospital * Caretaker, a character in the 1974 film '' ...

Cabinet Van Agt III with continuing his position and also took over the portfolio of Netherlands Antilles Affairs taking office on 29 May 1982. After the election of 1982 De Koning was appointed as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment and also retained the portfolio of Netherlands Antilles and Aruba Affairs in the Cabinet Lubbers I taking office on 4 November 1982. After the election of 1986 De Koning again continued his offices in the Cabinet Lubbers II. De Koning was appointed as acting

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

following a

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parlia ...

serving from 3 February 1987 until 6 May 1987. In July 1989, De Koning announced that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1989 and declined to serve in new cabinet. De Koning continued to be active in politics and in December 1989 was nominated as a Member of the Council of State on 1 January 1990. De Koning also became active in the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

as non-profit director and serves on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government, and worked as a distinguished professor of Social geography at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...

from January 1991. In August 1994, De Koning was diagnosed with

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devic ...

cancer and died just three months later in October 1994 at the age of 68. De Koning was known for his abilities as a skillful

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and effective consensus builder. He holds the distinction as the longest-serving Minister of Social Affairs with 7 years, 3 days in Dutch History.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Drs. J. (Jan) de Koning
Parlement & Politiek *
Drs. J. de Koning (ARP)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal {{DEFAULTSORT:Koning, Jan de 1926 births 1994 deaths Anti-Revolutionary Party MEPs Chairmen of the Anti-Revolutionary Party Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Deaths from cancer in the Netherlands Dutch corporate directors Dutch expatriates in Indonesia Dutch geographers Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch people of World War II Dutch resistance members Dutch trade association executives Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Ministers for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands Ministers of Agriculture of the Netherlands Ministers of Defence of the Netherlands Ministers of Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands Ministers of the Interior of the Netherlands Ministers of Social Affairs of the Netherlands Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Members of the Social and Economic Council MEPs for the Netherlands 1958–1979 Politicians from The Hague Politicians from Utrecht (city) People from Zwartewaterland Dutch people of the Indonesian National Revolution Recipients of the Resistance Memorial Cross Reformed Churches Christians from the Netherlands Royal Netherlands East Indies Army personnel Social geographers University of Groningen faculty Utrecht University alumni Utrecht University faculty Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam faculty 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch military personnel 20th-century Dutch politicians 20th-century Dutch scientists 20th-century geographers