Antonito Gordiano "Mito" Croes (10 May 1946 – 7 August 2016) was an Aruban politician of the

Aruban People's Party The Aruban People's Party (AVP; nl, Arubaanse Volkspartij, pap, Partido di Pueblo Arubano) is a Christian-democratic political party in Aruba founded in 1942. AVP is an acronym for the Dutch name of the party. At the 2001 elections, on 28 Sept ...

. He served as

Minister Plenipotentiary of Aruba The Minister Plenipotentiary of Aruba ( nl, Gevolmachtigde Minister van Aruba) represents the constituent country of Aruba in the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The current Minister Plenipotentiary of Aruba is Guillfred ...

from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as member of the Estates and government minister of the

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

and Aruba.

Early and personal life

Croes was born on

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

on 10 May 1946. He studied law at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

and the Katholieke Hogeschool Tilburg in the Netherlands. Croes started working as a civil servant in 1975. He later became head of the department of the governmental structure of the

, as which he served until 1980. Croes subsequently was scientific employee at the University of the Netherlands Antilles from 1980 to 1982. In May 2006 he earned his degree in jurisprudence from Tilburg University under

Ernst Hirsch Ballin Ernst Maurits Henricus Hirsch Ballin (born 15 December 1950) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist. After the election of 1989 Hirsch Ballin was appointed as Minister of Justice in the Cabin ...

, with a dissertation titled:"De herdefiniëring van het Koninkrijk". Croes was a Knight in the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

. He also held a distinction in the Venezuelan

Order of Francisco de Miranda The Order of Francisco de Miranda (''Orden Francisco de Miranda'') is conferred by the Republic of Venezuela in memory of Francisco de Miranda (1754–1816). This national honor and decoration was created to recognize Venezuelan citizens and forei ...

. Croes died on 7 August 2016 in

Oranjestad, Aruba Oranjestad ( , , ; literally "Orange City") is the capital and largest city of Aruba, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is located on the southern coast near the western end of the island country. In the local language ...

, aged 70.

Political career

Croes started his political career for the

as a member of the Island Council of Aruba. From early to November 1982 Croes served as member of the

Estates of the Netherlands Antilles The Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles (; ), also translated as the Estates of the Netherlands Antilles, was the parliament of the Netherlands Antilles. It comprised 22 members, elected for a four-year term in three multi-seat constituencies a ...

. He subsequently became Minister of Political Structure of the Netherlands Antilles and also temporarily served as Minister of Justice until August 1983. Croes then returned to the Estates of the Netherlands Antilles, of which he stayed member until 1986, when Aruba gained its status as a constituent country within the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

. Croes subsequently was appointed as the country's first Minister for Welfare Affairs (Education, Culture, Employment and Social Affairs). Croes remained Minister until February 1989. He then became member of the

Estates of Aruba The Parliament of Aruba ( pap, Parlamento di Aruba, nl, Staten van Aruba) is the unicameral legislature or parliament of Aruba. The parliament has 21 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation. Each member holds their ...

. Croes remained member until September 1994 when he was appointed as

. He kept this position until October 2001. Later Croes tried to obtain the right for Arubans to vote in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

elections. Together with later Minister Benny Sevinger was involved in judicial procedures ending at the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...

, where the right to vote was declared. Croes was a candidate for the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary ...

in the

2009 European Parliament election The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making th ...

. He held the eleventh place on the candidate list. He succeeded in obtaining 13,000 of the 14,000 votes on Aruba, but did not gain a seat. Croes was appointed to 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 ...

of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for Aruba in September 2014. He succeeded

Hubert Maduro Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and '' beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubertus or Hubert (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and metalworkers ...

. His appointment had been delayed for several months due to political difficulties between Aruba and the Netherlands. Croes resigned on 1 June 2016. Croes served as political adviser to Aruban Prime Minister

Mike Eman Michiel Godfried "Mike" Eman (born September 1, 1961) is an Aruban politician who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Aruba from 2009 to 2017. His political career began in 2001, but Eman has been involved in politics in one way or another since ...

, with the two calling almost daily. Eman described him as: "possibly the most knowledgeable person on the political structure within the Kingdom of the Netherlands".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croes, Mito 1946 births 2016 deaths Aruban People's Party politicians Dutch civil servants Government ministers of Aruba Government ministers of the Netherlands Antilles Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the Estates of Aruba Members of the Estates of the Netherlands Antilles Ministers plenipotentiary (Aruba) Tilburg University alumni