Herminius Carl George Ludolf "Minus" Polak (12 May 1928 – 4 February 2014) was a Dutch lawyer, politician and judge. As a politician Polak served at different times as a member of the municipal council 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 ...

, alderman of the same city and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the Netherlands between 1966 and 1985 for 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 ...

. As a judge he served first in the ''kanton'' court of Rotterdam and later in the Council of State of the Netherlands.

Career

Born in Rotterdam in 1928, Polak's father was a university professor of business administration and

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

at the

Netherlands School of Economics Erasmus University Rotterdam (abbreviated as ''EUR'', nl, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam ) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humanist ...

(later Erasmus University Rotterdam), his mother was a doctor. Minus Polak studied Dutch law at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

until 1953. He then returned to Rotterdam to work as a lawyer. In 1966 he went into politics and stopped working as a lawyer. He was elected to the municipal council of Rotterdam and at the same time he was made alderman concerning infrastructure and public works. In 1974 he resigned his position as alderman after a conflict concerning funding for the airport of

Zestienhoven Rotterdam The Hague Airport (formerly ''Rotterdam Airport'', ''Vliegveld Zestienhoven'' in Dutch language, Dutch), is a minor international airport serving Rotterdam, the Netherlands' second largest city, and The Hague, its administrative and ...

. The municipal council held him responsible for the airport, but refused to provide him with the money to buy a firetruck. Polak felt that without the firetruck he could not provide the safety that was needed and therefore chose to resign. He did however continue on as a member of the municipal council for another two years. Shortly after resigning as alderman he took up the position of President of the Board of the Erasmus University Rotterdam, the same university his father was once rector of. Two years into his presidency he was elected to the

, and two weeks after becoming a member of that institution his membership of the municipal council of Rotterdam ended. Polak would serve for just over one year as senator, until September 1977. Earlier in 1977 his presidency of the board of the university ended and he took up his job as a lawyer once more. One year later, in 1978, he would also be elected to the municipal council of Rotterdam again. In 1983 Polak quit as a lawyer and became a judge in the ''kanton'' court of Rotterdam. In 1985 he ended both his function as a judge in the kanton court and as a member in the municipal council. He then became a member of the Council of State of the Netherlands, the highest court of the Netherlands regarding decisions taken by the executive government. Polak would serve between 1985 and 1995. Polak was made Officer 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 27 November 1985. Near the end of his life Polak was nearly deaf. He died of myocardial infarction on 4 February 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polak, Minus 1928 births 2014 deaths Aldermen of Rotterdam 20th-century Dutch judges Lawyers from Rotterdam Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Municipal councillors of Rotterdam Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians University of Amsterdam alumni