Jozias Johannes van Aartsen (. born 25 December 1947) is a retired Dutch politician who served as

Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is the most senior politician within the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, VVD) in the Netherlands. The post is currently held by Mar ...

from 2004 to 2006. A native of

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 o ...

, he attended the

Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet, commonly known simply as Sorghvliet, is an independent Protestant gymnasium in The Hague. Sorghvliet is consistently ranked among the top 10 schools in the Netherlands by the influential magazine Elsevier. Sorghv ...

from April 1960 until May 1968 and applied at the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

in June 1968 majoring in

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 ...

and obtaining an

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 Ch ...

degree in July 1970. Van Aartsen served as Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries (1994–1998) and

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 co ...

(1998–2002) under Prime Minister

Wim Kok Willem "Wim" Kok (; 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.Mayor of The Hague Below is a list of mayors of The Hague since it was decided in 1824 that only one mayor at a time would govern the city. List 1824–1956 1957–present : : : : See also * Timeline of The Hague References {{Reflist The Hague The H ...

from 2008 until 2017.

Early life

Jozias Johannes van Aartsen was born on 25 December 1947 in

, son of Jan van Aartsen, a politician of the

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 mi ...

(ARP). He served as Minister of Transport and Water Management, Minister of Housing and Construction and Queen's Commissioner of

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

. After completing the Gymnasium-a he 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

. At the age of 22 van Aartsen moved to

to work in politics.

Politics

When

Hans Wiegel Hans Wiegel (; born 16 July 1941) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessperson. Wiegel studied Law at the University of Amsterdam before switching to Political science obtaining a Bache ...

became party leader, in 1971, Van Aartsen was asked to work for Wiegel as employee of the party in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. In 1974 he became director-general of the Telders Foundation, the scientific institute of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

. Van Aartsen worked as a political consultant for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy from July 1970 until August 1974 and as the director of the Telders Foundation think tank from August 1974 until February 1979. Van Aartsen worked as a civil servant for the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

from February 1979 until August 1994 as Deputy Director-General of the department for Administrative Affairs from February 1979 until April 1981 and as Director-General of the department for Administrative Affairs from April 1981 until July 1983 and as Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of the Interior from July 1983 until January 1985 and as Secretary-General of the Ministry of the Interior from January 1985 until August 1994. In 1978 Van Aartsen became Chef de Bureau of the Secretary General of Interior. He did this under Ministers Rietkerk, Van Dijk, De Korte, De Koning, Dales and De Graaf. In 1985 he became Secretary General of Interior himself. After the election of 1994 he was made the Minister of Agriculture from 1994 to 1998 in the

First Kok cabinet First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

. After the election of 1998 in the

Second Kok cabinet The second Kok cabinet, also called the second Purple cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch government from 3 August 1998 until 22 July 2002. The cabinet was a continuation of the previous first Kok cabinet and was formed by the soc ...

he was made the Minister of Foreign Affairs. When the cabinet fell as a direct result of the

NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies The NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (Dutch language, Dutch: ''NIOD Instituut voor Oorlogs-, Holocaust- en Genocidestudies'') is an organisation in the Netherlands which maintains archives and carries out history, historical s ...

report about the fall of

Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality located in the easternmost part of Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being salt mining and a nearby ...

during the Bosnian War, he became parliamentary leader in the lower house of the States General. On 1 April 2004 an attempt was made to run over Van Aartsen by a car when he and a co-worker were doing a photoshoot in front of Hotel Des Indes in

. Van Aartsen was not hurt but the co-worker did sustain a shoulder injury. The assailant, a 41-year-old lawyer by the name of Frederiek de Jongh and an employee of ''Bureau Rechtshulp'' in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

confessed her action was politically motivated. Van Aartsen stepped down as VVD Leader in 2006; in a letter to the newly-elected party leader

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006. After a business career working for Unileve ...

, he however expressed his disappointment with the demise of the

Second Balkenende cabinet The second Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 27 May 2003 until 7 July 2006. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the conservative-liberal Peo ...

which in his view was uncalled for. He also warned for VVD interparty warring between a populist fraction with a no-nonsense attitude and focus on tax cuts and law and order and a liberal fraction focused on personal freedoms, rule of law, international orientation and education. Jozias van Aartsen is a member of the

Bilderberg Group The Bilderberg meeting (also known as the Bilderberg Group) is an annual off-the-record conference established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now defi ...

. He served as Mayor of The Hague from 2008 to 2017. He then took two acting positions: as King's Commissioner of the province of Drenthe and as Mayor of the capital

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 ...

.Van Aartsen waarnemend burgemeester in Amsterdam
nos.nl, 2 November 2017.

Personal life

Van Aartsen retired from national politics but has remained active in the public sector and continues to occupy numerous seats as a nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government. Van Aartsen is known for his abilities as a

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 ...

and

debater Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a Discussion moderator, moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred ...

. Van Aartsen continues to comment on political affairs as of and holds the distinction as the only person who served as both Mayor of The Hague and Mayor of Amsterdam. His father

Jan Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

was also a politician who served as Minister of Transport and Water Management and Minister of Housing and Construction.

Decorations

References

External links

*
J.J. (Jozias) van Aartsen
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Aartsen, Jozias van 1947 births Living people Dutch campaign managers Dutch expatriates in Belgium Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch officials of the European Union Dutch political consultants Dutch speechwriters Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic King's and Queen's Commissioners of Drenthe Mayors of Amsterdam Mayors of The Hague Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers of Agriculture of the Netherlands Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Leaders of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Politicians from The Hague People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands Recipients of the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch jurists 21st-century Dutch politicians