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Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as
Prime Minister of the Netherlands The prime minister of the Netherlands ( nl, Minister-president van Nederland) is the head of the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands. Although the monarch is the ''de jure'' head of government, the prime minister ''de facto'' ...
since 2010 and Leader 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 i ...
(VVD) since 2006. After a business career working for
Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy ...
, Rutte entered politics in 2002 on his appointment as State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment by Prime Minister
Jan Peter Balkenende Jan Pieter "Jan Peter" Balkenende Jr. (; born 7 May 1956) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 2010. Balkenende studied ...
of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), after a coalition agreement guaranteed the VVD several seats in his
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
. Rutte was subsequently elected to 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 ...
at the
2003 election The following elections occurred in the year 2003. Africa * 2003 Beninese parliamentary election * 2003 Djiboutian parliamentary election * 2003 Guinean presidential election * 2003 Mauritanian presidential election * 2003 Nigerian parliamentary ...
. In 2004, he became State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science in the second Balkenende cabinet. After municipal elections in 2006 saw heavy losses for the VVD, the party's leader, Jozias van Aartsen, announced his resignation. Rutte stood in the subsequent leadership election; he was elected on 31 May, resigning from his cabinet post shortly afterwards. Rutte led the VVD into the
2006 election The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidential ...
; although the VVD lost six seats, it still became the second-largest opposition party. At the 2010 election, Rutte led the VVD to win the highest number of votes cast, resulting in it becoming the largest party in the House of Representatives for the first time in the party's history. After lengthy coalition negotiations, Rutte was sworn in as Prime Minister of the Netherlands on 14 October 2010. He was the first liberal to be appointed Prime Minister in 92 years, as well as the second-youngest Prime Minister in Dutch history. An impasse on budget negotiations led to his government's early collapse in April 2012, but the subsequent election saw the VVD win its highest number of seats ever, with Rutte returning as Prime Minister to lead to a coalition between the VVD and the Labour Party (PvdA). This cabinet became the first since 1998 to see out a full four-year term. Although at the 2017 election the VVD lost seats, it remained the largest party ahead of the Party for Freedom (PVV). After a record-length formation period, Rutte was appointed to lead to a new coalition between the VVD, CDA, Democrats 66 (D66) and
Christian Union Christian Union may refer to: * Christian Union (Lithuania), a Lithuanian Christian democratic political party (''Krikščionių sąjunga'' in Lithuanian) * Christian Union (Netherlands), a Dutch Christian democratic political party (''ChristenUn ...
(CU). He was sworn in for his third term as Prime Minister on 26 October 2017. Rutte and his cabinet offered their resignation to the King on 15 January 2021 in response to a scandal relating to false allegations of child welfare fraud by the Dutch tax authorities. Rutte remained in office through the 2021 election, leading the VVD to finish first for the fourth consecutive election. After another record-length formation period, he began his fourth term as Prime Minister on 10 January 2022. Due to his ability to come out of political scandals with his reputation undamaged, Rutte has been referred to as "Teflon Mark". On 2 August 2022, he became the longest-serving Prime Minister in Dutch history, overtaking Ruud Lubbers (1982–1994).


Early life

Rutte was born in
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...
, in the
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
of
South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...
,Drs. M. (Mark) Rutte
Parlement & Politiek. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
in a
Dutch Reformed The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family ...
family. He is the youngest child of Izaäk Rutte (5 October 1909 – 22 April 1988), a merchant, and his second wife, Hermina Cornelia Dilling (13 November 1923 – 13 May 2020), a secretary. Izaäk Rutte worked for a trading company; first as an importer in the Dutch East Indies, later as a director in the Netherlands. His second wife was a sister of his first wife, Petronella Hermanna Dilling (17 March 1910 – 20 July 1945), who died while she and he were interned together in
Tjideng Tjideng was a Japanese internment camp for women and children during the Second World War, in then Batavia (today Jakarta, Indonesia). Batavia came under Japanese control in 1942, and part of the city, called Camp Tjideng, was used for the intern ...
, a prisoner of war camp in Batavia, now Jakarta, 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. Rutte has seven siblings as a result of his father's two marriages. One of his elder brothers died from AIDS in the 1980s. Rutte later described the deaths of his brother and later his father as events that changed the course of his life. Rutte attended the Maerlant Lyceum from 1979 until 1985, specialising in the arts. Although Rutte's original ambition was to attend a conservatory and become a concert pianist, he went to study history at Leiden University instead, where he obtained an MA degree in 1992. Rutte combined his studies with a position on the board of the
Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy The Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Jongerenorganisatie Vrijheid en Democratie, JOVD) is a Dutch political youth organisation. The JOVD cooperates with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), but is politically independen ...
, the youth organisation of the VVD, of which he was the chair from 1988 to 1991. After his studies, Rutte entered the business world, working as a manager for
Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy ...
(and its food subsidiary Calvé). Until 1997, Rutte was part of the human resource department of Unilever, and played a leading role in several reorganisations. Between 1997 and 2000, Rutte was staff manager for Van den Bergh Nederland, a subsidiary of Unilever's. In 2000, Rutte became a member of the Corporate Human Resources Group, and in 2002, he became human resource manager for IgloMora Groep, another subsidiary of Unilever's. Between 1993 and 1997, Rutte was a member of the national board of the VVD. Rutte also served as a member of the VVD candidate committee for the general election of 2002. Rutte was elected as Member of Parliament in 2003.


Political career

Rutte served as State Secretary at the Social Affairs and Employment Ministry from 22 July 2002 to 17 June 2004 in the First and Second Balkenende cabinets. Rutte was responsible for fields including ''bijstand'' ( municipal welfare) and ''arbeidsomstandigheden'' (
Occupational safety and health Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at ...
). After the 2003 elections Rutte was briefly also a member of 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 ...
, from 30 January to 27 May 2003. In 2003, as State Secretary, Rutte advised municipalities to check, exceptionally, Somali residents for social assistance fraud, after some Somalis working in England were also found to receive social assistance benefits in the Netherlands. A Somali man entitled to benefits was stopped by social investigators and checked for fraud on the basis of his external characteristics, after which he refused the investigators access to his home. The Municipal Executive (
College van burgemeester en wethouders In the Netherlands, the municipal executive (, ) is the executive board of a municipality. It plays a central role in municipal politics in the Netherlands, similar to the communal college in Belgium. It consists of the mayor and the members of ...
) of Haarlem decided to withdraw the right of the man to social benefits. He disagreed with this and his appeal was upheld by the administrative judge. The court ruled that "an investigation aimed exclusively at persons of Somali descent is discriminatory" and contrary to the Constitution because this distinction is "discrimination based on race". Rutte rejected the criticism and stated that a change in the law would then be necessary to be able to combat targeted fraud. Rutte later served as State Secretary for Higher Education and Science, within the Education, Culture and Science Ministry, replacing Annette Nijs, from 17 June 2004 to 27 June 2006, in the Second Balkenende cabinet. In office, Rutte showed particular interest in making the Dutch higher education system more competitive internationally, by trying to make it more market oriented (improving the position of students as consumers in the market for education). Rutte would have been succeeded by former
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...
alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...
Bruno Bruins. Before Bruins could be sworn into office, the second Balkenende cabinet fell. In the subsequently formed Third Balkenende cabinet Bruins succeeded Rutte as State secretary. Rutte resigned from his position in government in June 2006 to return to 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 ...
, and he soon became the
parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are the ...
of the VVD. Rutte became an important figure within the VVD leadership. Rutte was campaign manager for the 2006 municipal elections.


Party leadership election

After the resignation of Jozias van Aartsen, the VVD having lost in the 2006 Dutch municipal election, the party held an internal election for lijsttrekker, in which Rutte competed against Rita Verdonk and
Jelleke Veenendaal Jelleke Veenendaal (born 15 December 1953) is a Dutch politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 2003 to 2006.
. On 31 May 2006, it was announced that Mark Rutte would be the next ''lijsttrekker'' of the VVD. He was elected by 51.5% of party members. Rutte's candidacy was backed by the VVD leadership, including the party board, and many prominent politicians such as
Frank de Grave Franciscus Hendrikus Gerardus "Frank" de Grave (born 27 June 1955) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessman. He is an Extraordinary Member of the Council of State since 3 September 2018. De ...
, former minister of Defence, Ivo Opstelten, the mayor of
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
and Ed Nijpels, the Queen's Commissioner of
Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...
. The
Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy The Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Jongerenorganisatie Vrijheid en Democratie, JOVD) is a Dutch political youth organisation. The JOVD cooperates with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), but is politically independen ...
, the VVD's youth wing, of which he had been chair, also backed him. During the elections he promised "to make the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy a party for everyone and not just of the elite". His youthful appearance has been likened to the successful former leader of the Labour Party, Wouter Bos. Rutte said that the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party was a group that "the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy could do business with". He had also stated that with the social security ideas of the Labour Party, which he called too socialist, it was unlikely that the VVD would cooperate or form a coalition after the elections.


2006 general election

For the 2006 general election, the VVD campaign with Rutte as leader did not get off to a good start; he received criticism from within his own party."Onvrede binnen VVD over Rutte,"
''Algemeen Dagblad'' (31 October 2006). Retrieved 14 May 2014.
Rutte was said to be overshadowed by his own party members Rita Verdonk and
Gerrit Zalm Gerrit Zalm (born 6 May 1952) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessman. Zalm studied Economics at the Free University Amsterdam obtaining a Master of Economics degree and worked as a ...
, as well as being unable to penetrate between Wouter Bos and
Jan Peter Balkenende Jan Pieter "Jan Peter" Balkenende Jr. (; born 7 May 1956) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 2010. Balkenende studied ...
, who were generally seen as the prime candidates to become the next Prime Minister. On 27 November, it became known that Rita Verdonk managed to obtain more votes than Mark Rutte; he obtained 553,200 votes against Verdonk's 620,555. After repeated criticisms by Verdonk on VVD policy, Rutte expelled her from the party's parliamentary faction on 13 September 2007.


2010 general election

In the 2010 general election, Rutte was once again the '' lijsttrekker'' for the VVD. It won 31 seats to become the largest party in the House of Representatives for the first time ever. A long period of negotiations followed, with several personalities succeeding each other, being appointed by Queen Beatrix in order to find out what coalition could be formed. Efforts to form a coalition between the VVD, CDA and PvdA failed. Instead, the only possibility appeared to be a centre-right coalition of liberals and Christian Democrats (CDA), with the outside support of the Party for Freedom (PVV), led by Geert Wilders.


Prime Minister of The Netherlands


First term

After securing support for a coalition between the VVD and CDA, Rutte was appointed as formateur on 8 October 2010; Rutte announced his prospective cabinet, including
Maxime Verhagen Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen (; born 14 September 1956) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and historian. Verhagen studied Contemporary history at the Leiden University obtaining a Master of Arts degre ...
from the CDA as Deputy Prime Minister. On 14 October, Queen Beatrix formally invited Rutte to form a government, and later that day, Rutte presented his
first 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 ...
to Parliament. The government was confirmed in office by a majority of one, and Rutte was sworn in as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, becoming the first Liberal to serve in the role since Pieter Cort van der Linden in 1918. He also became the second-youngest Prime Minister in Dutch history, after Ruud Lubbers. After the victory at the 2011 provincial elections, the VVD secured its status as the lead party within the government. In March 2012, seeking to comply with
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...
requirements to reduce the nation's deficit, Rutte began talks with his coalition partners on a budget which would cut 16 billion euros of spending. However, PVV leader Geert Wilders withdrew his party's informal support from the government on 21 April, stating that the proposed budget would hurt economic growth. This led to the early collapse of the government, and Rutte submitted his resignation to Queen Beatrix on the afternoon of 23 April. His government had lasted for 558 days, making it one of the shortest Dutch cabinets since World War II.


Second term

Ahead of the 2012 general election, Rutte was named the VVD's lijsttrekker for the third time. At the election in September, the VVD won an additional 10 seats, remaining the largest party in the House of Representatives; the CDA and PVV saw their number of seats fall significantly. The VVD quickly negotiated a coalition agreement with the Labour Party, and on 5 November 2012, the Second Rutte cabinet was confirmed by a vote in Parliament, seeing Rutte returned as Prime Minister of a VVD-PvdA coalition government. In 2014,
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...
held a Group of Seven special meeting after the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down in Ukraine with 193 Dutch nationals aboard. During the municipal elections of 2014, the VVD finished third behind local parties and the CDA; at the European Parliament election the same year, it finished fourth. At the
2015 Dutch provincial elections Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 18 March 2015. Eligible voters elected the members of the States-Provincial in the twelve provinces. These elections also indirectly determined the members of the Senate, since the 566 ...
, however, the VVD remained the largest party in the province's legislatures with about 15% of the vote, but lost 23 seats in the States-Provincial. In April 2016, Rutte was appointed by
United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary- ...
Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
and
President of the World Bank Group The president of the World Bank Group is the head of World Bank Group. The president is responsible for chairing the meetings of the boards of directors and for overall management of the World Bank Group. Traditionally, the World Bank Group presi ...
Jim Yong Kim to the High-Level Panel on Water. Co-chaired by Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, the joint United Nations-World Bank Group panel was set up to accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6). That month also saw the
2016 Dutch Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement referendum An advisory referendum on the approval of the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement was held in the Netherlands on 6 April 2016. The referendum question was: "Are you for or against the Approval Act of the Association Agreement between ...
, which resulted in a rejection. In November 2016 the House of Representatives approved by 132 votes against 18 a ban on the Islamic burqa in some public spaces including schools and hospitals, a bill supported by the VVD. Rutte's second cabinet completed its full four-year term without collapsing or losing a vote of no confidence, becoming the first cabinet to do so since the First Kok cabinet from 1994 to 1998.


Third term

The VVD went into the
2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November  ...
with a small lead over the PVV in most opinion polls. Rutte was judged to have managed the
2017 Dutch–Turkish diplomatic incident In March 2017, the Netherlands and Turkey were involved in a diplomatic incident, triggered by Turkish efforts to hold political rallies on Dutch territory and subsequent travel restrictions placed by Dutch authorities on Turkish officials seekin ...
well according to similar polling. While the VVD lost 8 seats in the general election, the PvdA lost 29, and these seats were split between a number of other parties, leaving the VVD the largest party in parliament for the third successive election. After holding coalition discussions, Rutte negotiated a grand coalition with the CDA, Democrats 66, D66 and Christian Union (Netherlands), CU; he presented his Third Rutte cabinet, third cabinet on 26 October 2017, and was sworn in as Prime Minister for a third term. The 225 days between the general election and the installation of the government was the longest such period in Dutch history. The coalition agreement's plan to abolish the 15% dividend tax (providing the state €1.4 billion per year) proved highly unpopular, as it had not been mentioned in any party's program, and it later appeared that major Dutch companies like Royal Dutch Shell, Shell and
Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy ...
had secretly been lobbying for that measure. In July 2018, Rutte became a topic in international news because of what was considered "typical Dutch bluntness", by interrupting and explicitly contradicting the President of the United States, American president Donald Trump during a meeting with the press at the Oval Office in the White House. Rutte's third government provided materials to the Levant Front rebel group in Syria. In September 2018, the Dutch public prosecution department declared the Levant Front to be a "criminal organisation of terrorist intent", describing it as a "Salafism, salafist and jihadistic" group that "strives for the setting up of the caliphate". On 21 March 2018, the 2018 Dutch Intelligence and Security Services Act referendum, Dutch Intelligence and Security Services Act referendum was held. It resulted in a rejection. At the 2019 Dutch provincial elections, 2019 provincial elections, Rutte's VVD suffered a blow following the victory of right-wing populist newcomer Forum for Democracy (FvD). During the negotiations for the European Union response to the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 recovery fund in the European Union, Rutte is considered the unofficial leader of the Frugal Four, demanding loans instead of grants and more conditions on them. During a parliamentary debate on 9 September 2020, Rutte suggested that the EU could be dissolved and re-formed without Poland and Hungary, as he perceives these countries' governments to be dismantling the rule of law. On 15 January 2021, the third Rutte cabinet collectively resigned after publications of research around the Netherlands child welfare fraud scandal, childcare subsidies scandal in the Netherlands. Rutte offered his resignation to the King, accepting responsibility for the scandal.


Fourth term

Following the 2021 Dutch general election, Rutte's VVD party held 34 of 150 seats and was expected to form a new coalition government. After remaining caretaker Prime Minister for the duration of the longest formation process in Dutch history, on 15 December 2021 he presented a coalition agreement with Democrats 66, D66, CDA and Christian Union (Netherlands), CU, the same combination as his previous government.


Honours

*: Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia (9 October 2019) – For eminent service to Australia's bilateral relationship with the Netherlands and his outstanding leadership in response to the MH17 air disaster.2019-S8
– Honorary Companion (AC) in General Division (9 October 2019)
*: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (Belgium), Order of the Crown (28 November 2016). *: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (9 November 2022).


Personal life

Rutte is single. He is a member of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, Dutch Protestant Church. As of 2021, Rutte still teaches social studies for two hours a week at the Johan de Witt College, a secondary school in The Hague. Rutte is known to be a big fan of the writing of Robert Caro, especially his 1974 book about Robert Moses, ''The Power Broker''. He drives an old Saab.


See also

*List of international prime ministerial trips made by Mark Rutte


References


External links


Mark Rutte
official government profile * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rutte, Mark 1967 births Living people Dutch business executives Dutch conservative liberals Dutch human resource management people Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Honorary Companions of the Order of Australia Leaders of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Leiden University alumni LGBT rights activists from the Netherlands Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Politicians from The Hague People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands State Secretaries for Education of the Netherlands State Secretaries for Social Affairs of the Netherlands Unilever people 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch businesspeople 21st-century Dutch educators 21st-century Dutch historians 21st-century Dutch politicians