Maurice de Hond (born 8 October 1947) is a Dutch pollster, accused of defamation and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the Steve JobsSchool, an elementary school which gives each student an iPad to encourage

individualized learning Personalized learning, individualized instruction, personal learning environment and direct instruction all refer to efforts to tailor education to meet the different needs of students. Overview The use of the term "personalized learning" dates ba ...

. As of 2016, 35 public schools in the Netherlands adopted the school model. Two Steve JobsSchools opened in South Africa in 2016.

Career

Born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, De Hond studied human geography 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 ...

, obtaining a degree in 1971. He worked for the university, as assistant with the Sociaal Geografisch Instituut, but became a project leader for Interview-NSS in 1973. He founded Cebeon with

Hedy d'Ancona Hedwig "Hedy" d'Ancona (; born 1 October 1937) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and political activist. d'Ancona applied at the University of Amsterdam in June 1956 majoring in Sociology and obtaining a Bachelor of Soc ...

in 1975, a market research firm targeting the non-profit sector, which he left in 1980 to become a director at Interview-NSS, later a commissioner until 1999. Starting in the mid-80s, De Hond started doing consultancy work for various companies, including

Vendex Maxeda is a Dutch retail company owned by American investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Activities Maxeda DIY Group is the market leader in the DIY segment and has 345 stores in the Benelux and more than 7,000 employees. Most stores h ...

(for which he led the computer department

Microcomputer Club Nederland The Microcomputer Club Nederland (MCN) was a Dutch computer club which was founded by Vendex in the mid-1980s.Vroom & Dreesmann Vroom & Dreesmann (V&D) was a Dutch chain of department stores founded in 1887. It was declared bankrupt on 2015, although its branches were still in operation until 2016. On 2016, it was announced that takeover negotiations had not led to an a ...

department store and the Dixons electricals store in the 1980s), ITT and Wegener. In 1998, he was one of the founders of Newconomy, an internet start-up, which after a stock exchange listing in 2000, saw a market cap of €400 million, but subsequently lost much of its market value. Eventually, De Hond had to resign from his leadership position. He now polls through his own company, and internet site Peil.nl.

Deventer murder case

Since 2005, De Hond campaigned to reopen a murder case that happened in the Dutch city of

Deventer Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, bu ...

. De Hond believed that a

tax advisor A tax advisor or tax consultant is a person with advanced training and knowledge of tax law. The services of a tax advisor are usually retained in order to minimize taxation while remaining compliant with the law in complicated financial situations. ...

named Ernest Louwes was wrongfully convicted, and that a handyman of the murdered woman, Michaël de Jong, was behind the murder. De Hond led his own investigation into the matter, but a subsequent investigation by the public prosecutors found no reason to reopen the case. De Jong brought De Hond to court over his allegations, for which De Hond refused to submit after the matter was closed. A Dutch court found De Hond at fault in continuation of his allegations, after which De Hond was reprimanded and forced to pay de Jong and his girlfriend over €100,000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hond, Maurice de 1947 births Living people Dutch Jews Jewish Dutch writers Writers from Amsterdam Dutch political writers Dutch political commentators Dutch businesspeople Pollsters