Jacobus Maria “Jacques” Aarden (11 August 1914 - 23 November 1997) was a Dutch politician. His father was Petrus Jacobus Maria Aarden. In 1940 Aarden finished his education in economics. After 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 ...

he joined the new

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party ( nl, Katholieke Volkspartij, KVP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as a continuation of the Roman Catholic State Party, which was a continuation of ...

, even though he also considered joining the Labour Party. He became a member of 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 ...

Voorburg Voorburg is a town and former municipality in the west part of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Together with Leidschendam and Stompwijk, it makes up the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. It has a population of about 39,000 people ...

in 1946, a position he would hold for 20 years. On 12 July 1962 he joined 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 ...

. He often voted in favour of pieces of left-progressive legislation, unlike most of his party. Tensions in the Catholic People's Party caused the so-called ‘ Night of Schmelzer’ which ended the KVP- ARP-Labour

Cals cabinet The Cals cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 14 April 1965 until 22 November 1966. The cabinet was formed by the christian-democratic Catholic People's Party (KVP) and Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) and the social-democr ...

. When the party began drifting towards cooperation with Freedom and Democracy instead of the liberal People's Party Aarden and his allies responded by writing an address. He refused to cooperate with the rightist

De Jong cabinet The De Jong cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 5 April 1967 until 6 July 1971. The cabinet was formed by the christian-democratic Catholic People's Party (KVP), Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) and Christian Historical Un ...

. When the KVP unexpectedly declared its intention to work together closely with the ARP and

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union ( nl, Christelijk-Historische Unie, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged in ...

Aarden and his ‘radicals’ left the KVP (26 February 1968). Aarden and his followers created the

Group Aarden A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

which he would lead until 1971. Group Aarden merged with elements from the ARP and CHU to create the leftist

Political Party of Radicals The Political Party of Radicals ( nl, Politieke Partij Radikalen, PPR) was a progressive Christian and green political party in the Netherlands. The PPR played a relatively small role in Dutch politics and merged with other left-wing parties to fo ...

, Aarden became its leader. After the 1971 election only Aarden en de Gaay Fortman gained positions in the House of Representatives. After a period of absence due to overwork Aarden got a position in 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 1973. On 1 September 1984 he left politics. Religiously he was among the more traditional Catholics. He took a special interest in the veneration of

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. He married Maria Pietronella Philomena Korst and had four sons and four daughters with her.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aarden, Jacobus 1914 births 1997 deaths Catholic People's Party politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) People from Leidschendam-Voorburg