Klaas de Jonge (29 June 1887 – 19 April 1958) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

trade union leader. Born in

Hoogezand Hoogezand is a town in the municipality of Midden-Groningen, in the province of Groningen in northeast Netherlands. History The name refers to a higher sanded ''(Hooge Sandt)'' place in the peatlands cut through when the Winschoterdiep channe ...

, de Jonge trained as a printer, then later worked in a factory. He joined the Dutch Union of Factory Workers (NVvFA), and also the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP). In 1913, he was the first social democrat to win election to the local council, and in 1914, he became district secretary of the SDAP. That year, he began working full-time for the NVvFA, while in 1915, he won election to the council in

Winschoten Winschoten (; gos, Winschoot) is a city with a population of 18,518 in the municipality of Oldambt in the northeast of the Netherlands. It is the largest city in the region of Oldambt in the province of Groningen which has 38,213 inhabitants. ...

. In 1917, he was elected as the secretary of the NVvFA, during a period of rapid growth for the union, then in 1921 he became its president. He was elected to the executive of the

International Federation of Factory Workers The International Federation of Chemical, Energy and General Workers' Unions (ICEF) was a global union federation of trade unions. History The secretariat was founded in August 1907, as the International Federation of General Factory Workers, bu ...

in 1923, and became its general secretary in 1929. In 1928, he became vice-president of the

Omroepvereniging VARA The Omroepvereniging VARA (), the VARA Broadcasting Association, was a Dutch public broadcasting association primarily operating in the fields of television, radio, publishing and interactive media. It was a member of Netherlands Public Broadcas ...

broadcasting organisation. 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 opposin ...

, de Jonge was arrested twice, being imprisoned on the first occasion, and sent to a concentration camp in Germany on the second. He was liberated at the end of the war, but spent several months recuperating in hospital before he was able to return to Amsterdam. He then returned to his trade union posts, retiring from the NVvFA in 1949, and the international in 1950. In retirement, de Jonge suffered from poor health, and he died in 1958.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joonge, Klaas de 1887 births 1958 deaths Dutch trade unionists People from Hoogezand-Sappemeer Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands) politicians