Marten "Martin" Zijlstra (22 July 1944 – 10 December 2014) was a Dutch politician. He started his political career as member of the
States of Groningen, serving between 1974 and 1978. Starting in 1977 he served as Mayor of
Termunten for thirteen years. He was 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 ...
of the Netherlands between 1989 and 2002 for the
Labour Party and focused on interior affairs and defence policy. After his time as Representative he served two stints as acting mayor in
Oldambt and
Schiermonnikoog.
Career
Zijlstra was born in
Eenrum. He received his primary and secondary education in the village and then studied further at the
Hogere Burgerschool in the city of
Groningen. He served as
non-commissioned officer at the Meteorological Service of the
Royal Netherlands Air Force between 1961 and 1968.
After his time with the armed forces he studied Dutch law at the
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is th ...
between 1969 and 1977. While he was studying he worked at
Akzo Zout Chemie between 1968 and 1973. Afterwards he worked four years at the municipality of
Delfzijl
Delfzijl (; gos, Delfsiel) is a city and former municipality with a population of 25,651 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Delfzijl was a sluice between the Delf and the Ems, which became fortified settlement in ...
.
[
Zijlstra started his political career as member of the States of Groningen and was elected for one four-year term in 1974. During his time in office he became mayor of Termunten in 1977, a position which he would hold for thirteen years, until the municipality merged in 1990. In the 1989 general elections he was 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 ...
for the Labour Party. During his time as Representative he dealt mostly with interior affairs and defence policy, focusing on employment and veteran affairs.[
In 2010 he was acting mayor of Oldambt for some months after the municipality had been merged. And in 2011–2012 he served several months as mayor of Schiermonnikoog after the previous mayor stepped down.][
Apart from his political career he also served in numerous boards of foundations and groups, including broadcaster ]RTV Noord
RTV Noord is a regional radio and television public broadcaster in Groningen, Netherlands. , its radio programs are broadcast on FM 97.5 MHz. It broadcasts TV and radio programming 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Some content is broadcas ...
for six years.[
He was invested as a Knight of the ]Order of Orange-Nassau
The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands.
The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...
on 22 May 2002.[
He died on 10 December 2014 in Woldendorp after a long illness.]
References
External links
*
Parlement.com biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zijlstra, Martin
1944 births
2014 deaths
Dutch veterans' rights activists
Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau
Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians
Mayors in Groningen (province)
Mayors of Schiermonnikoog
Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands)
Members of the Provincial Council of Groningen
Municipal councillors in Groningen (province)
People from De Marne
Royal Netherlands Air Force personnel
University of Groningen alumni