Wilhelm Klaus Norbert Schmelzer (22 March 1921 – 14 November 2008) was a Dutch politician, diplomat and economist who served as Leader of the Catholic People's Party (KVP) from 1963 to 1971 and

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 1971 to 1973.

Early career

Schmelzer attended the gymnasium of the Jesuit Sint Aloysius College in The Hague from June 1933 until July 1939 and applied at the Tilburg Catholic Economic University in July 1939

majoring An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conc ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. On 10 May 1940

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

the Netherlands and the

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fled to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to escape the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

. During the German occupation Schmelzer continued his study obtaining an Bachelor of Economics degree in June 1941 before graduating with an Master of Economics degree in September 1945. Schmelzer worked as a civil servant for the Ministry of Economic Affairs from February 1947 until October 1956 for the department for Financial and Economic Policy from February 1947 until August 1951 and the department for European and International Policy from August 1951 until October 1956.

Political career

After the election of 1956 Schmelzer was appointed as State Secretary for the Interior in the Cabinet Drees III, taking office on 29 October 1956. The Cabinet Drees III fell on 11 December 1958 continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1958 when it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Beel II with Schmelzer continuing as State Secretary for the Interior, taking office on 22 December 1958. Schmelzer was elected as a member of the House of Representatives at the election of 1959, taking office on 20 March. Following the

cabinet formation 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 ...

of 1959, Schmelzer was appointed as State Secretary for General Affairs in the Cabinet De Quay, taking office on 19 May 1959. The office of State Secretary for General Affairs was created specially for Schmelzer and was considered as a ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

. After the election of 1963 Schmelzer returned as a member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 2 July 1963. Following the

of 1963 Schmelzer per his own request asked not to be considered for a cabinet post in the new

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 ...

. He was seen as a rising star by the

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party ( nl, Katholieke Volkspartij, KVP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as a continuation of the Roman Catholic State Party, which was a continuation of ...

's leadership and was considered as the

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to succeed Wim de Kort as the next Leader of the Catholic People's Party. The Cabinet De Quay was replaced by the Cabinet Marijnen on 24 July 1963 he continued serving in the House of Representatives as a

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kno ...

. In November 1963 the Leader of the Catholic People's Party and parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives Wim de Kort announced he was stepping down as leader and parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives. The party leadership approached Schmelzer to be his successor, who accepted and became the leader and parliamentary leader, taking office on 7 December 1963. On 27 February 1965 the Cabinet Marijnen fell and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity and Schmelzer was appointed as formateur. Following a failed cabinet formation attempt he approached former Minister of Education, Arts and Sciences

Jo Cals Jozef Maria Laurens Theo "Jo" Cals (18 July 1914 – 30 December 1971) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherland ...

as a candidate for Prime Minister, Cals accepted and was appointed as formateur to form a new cabinet. The following

of 1965 resulted in a coalition agreement between the Catholic People's Party, the Labour Party (PvdA) and the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) which formed the Cabinet Cals on 14 April 1965. On 14 October 1966 Schmelzer proposed a

motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and mea ...

in the House of Representatives that called for a stronger financial and economic policy to further reduce the deficit from the Cabinet Cals, Prime Minister Cals saw this as an indirect

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

from his own party against his

and announced the resignation of the

that same day, the crisis would

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ous be called the ''Nacht van Schmelzer'' ("Night of Schmelzer"). The Cabinet Cals continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the

of 1966 when it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Zijlstra on 22 November 1966. For the election of 1967 Schmelzer served as '' lijsttrekker'' (top candidate). The Catholic People's Party suffered a small loss, losing 8 seats but retained its place as the largest party and now had 42 seats in the House of Representatives. The following

of 1967 resulted in a coalition agreement between the Catholic People's Party, 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 ...

(VVD), the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union (CHU) which formed the Cabinet De Jong on 5 April 1967. In February 1971 Schmelzer unexpectedly announced that he was stepping down as party leader and that he would not stand for the general election of 1971 but wanted to run for the

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 ...

. Schmelzer was elected as a member of Senate after the Senate election of 1971, he resigned as a member of the House of Representatives the same day he was installed as a member of Senate, taking office on 11 May 1971. Following the

of 1971 Schmelzer was appointed as

in the Cabinet Biesheuvel I, taking office on 6 July 1971. The Cabinet Biesheuvel I fell just one year later on 19 July 1972 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Biesheuvel II with Schmelzer continuing as Minister of Foreign Affairs, taking office on 9 August 1972. In September 1972 Schmelzer announced his retirement from national politics and that he would not stand for the election of 1972. The Cabinet Biesheuvel II was replaced by the Cabinet Den Uyl following the cabinet formation of 1973 on 11 May 1973.

Late career

Schmelzer retired after spending 16 years in national politics and became active in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

and

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

; he occupied numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards (

Douwe Egberts Douwe Egberts is a Dutch brand of coffee which is majority-owned by JDE Peet's. It was founded in Joure, Netherlands, by Egbert Douwes in 1753 as De Witte Os ("The White Ox"), a general grocery shop. The company later started dealing specifically ...

, Akzo,

Heijmans Heijmans N.V. is a major European construction-services business with Dutch-based headquarters. History The company was founded by Jan Heijmans in Rosmalen in 1923. It was first listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in 1993. Operations The com ...

Netherlands Atlantic Association Since its establishment in 1952, the Netherlands Atlantic Association is a forum for public debate on transatlantic security issues. It provides information and encourages research on topics such as the relationship between Europe and United Stat ...

and the Institute of International Relations Clingendael) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( KPN, Public Pension Funds PFZW and the Cadastre Agency), as well as served as an diplomat and lobbyist for several economic delegations on behalf of the government and the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

. Schmelzer was also a prolific composer, pianist and poet having written more than a dozen compositions and poems from 1973. Schmelzer, who joined the newly-formed Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) in 1980, was known for his abilities as a debater and negotiator. He continued to comment on political affairs until his death at the age of 87. He holds the distinction as the first State Secretary for the Interior and the first and only State Secretary for General Affairs.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Drs. W.K.N. (Norbert) Schmelzer
Parlement & Politiek *
Drs. W.K.N. Schmelzer
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmelzer, Norbert 1921 births 2008 deaths Businesspeople from Rotterdam Catholic People's Party politicians Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Dutch classical composers Dutch classical pianists Dutch corporate directors Dutch critics Dutch diarists Dutch expatriates in Germany Dutch-language poets Dutch lobbyists Dutch keyboardists Dutch male poets Dutch male short story writers Dutch short story writers Dutch memoirists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch officials of the European Union Dutch people of German descent Dutch political commentators Dutch political writers Dutch Roman Catholics European Union lobbyists Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit (Portugal) Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Leaders of the Catholic People's Party Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Musicians from Rotterdam Diplomats from Rotterdam People from Sankt Ingbert People from Wassenaar Recipients of the Resistance Memorial Cross State Secretaries for the Interior of the Netherlands Tilburg University alumni Writers from Rotterdam 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch diplomats 20th-century Dutch economists 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch musicians 20th-century Dutch poets 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Dutch musicians 21st-century Dutch poets 20th-century memoirists 20th-century diarists