Rudolf Willem de Korte (8 July 1936 – 9 January 2020) was a Dutch politician of 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) and businessman.

Life and career

De Korte was born in The Hague, Netherlands. He attended the Maerlant Gymnasium from May 1948 until June 1954, and studied at the

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 ...

in September 1954

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 ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

and obtaining a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in July 1957, before graduating with a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degree with honors on 18 October 1961, and worked as a researcher before he got a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

as a

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

in Chemistry on 21 May 1964. De Korte studied at the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

of the

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

in January 1962 for a

postgraduate education Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...

Business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

obtaining a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

degree in November 1964. De Korte subsequently studied at the

Cranfield University , mottoeng = After clouds light , established = 1946 - College of Aeronautics 1969 - Cranfield Institute of Technology (gained university status by royal charter) 1993 - Cranfield University (adopted current name) , type = Public research uni ...

in Cranfield,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in May 1962 for another postgraduate education in Business administration graduating with a Master of Business and Management degree in December 1964. De Korte worked as a salesman for

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

from December 1964 until December 1977 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

from December 1964 until March 1966 and in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

from March 1966 until October 1968 and as a corporate director from October 1968 until December 1977. De Korte served as the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy campaign manager for the elections of 1972 and

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

. De Korte became a Member of the House of Representatives after

Hans Wiegel Hans Wiegel (; born 16 July 1941) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessperson. Wiegel studied Law at the University of Amsterdam before switching to Political science obtaining a Bachelo ...

was appointed as

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, ...

and

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in the Cabinet Van Agt–Wiegel following the cabinet formation of 1977, taking office on 22 December 1977 serving 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 ...

and

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for Economic Affairs and Social Affairs. De Korte was appointed as Minister of the Interior in the Cabinet Lubbers I following the death of

Koos Rietkerk Jacobus Gijsbert "Koos" Rietkerk (14 December 1927 – 20 February 1986) was a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and jurist. Rietkerk attended the Christian Gymnasium in Haarlem from April 1940 until May 1 ...

, taking office on 12 March 1986. After the election of 1986 De Korte returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 3 June 1986. After the Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and Parliamentary leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in the House of Representatives

Ed Nijpels Eduardus Hermannus Theresia Maria Nijpels (born 1 April 1950) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and nonprofit director. Nijpels studied Civil law (common law), Civil law at the Utrecht University obtain ...

announced he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives following the defeat in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy leadership approached De Korte as his successor, De Korte accepted and became the Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, taking office on 9 July 1986. Following the cabinet formation of 1986 De Korte was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cabinet Lubbers II, taking office on 14 July 1986. On 15 December 1986 De Korte announced that he was stepping down as Leader in favor of Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives Joris Voorhoeve. The Cabinet Lubbers II fell on 3 May 1989 following a disagreement in the coalition about the increase of

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and poli ...

s and excises and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity. After the election of 1989 De Korte again returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 14 September 1989. The Cabinet Lubbers II was replaced by the Cabinet Lubbers III following the cabinet formation of 1989 on 7 November 1989 and he continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Economic Affairs and deputy spokesperson for

Finances Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of finan ...

. In August 1995 De Korte was nominated as a vice president of the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions ...

(EIB), and he resigned as Member of the House of Representatives the same day he was installed as vice president, serving from 1 September 1995 until 30 June 2000. De Korte served as Vice Chairman of the Supervisory board of the European Investment Bank from 1 September 2001 until 16 January 2012.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Dr. R.W. (Rudolf) de Korte
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Korte, Rudolf de 1936 births 2020 deaths Alumni of Cranfield University Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Deputy Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Dutch bankers Dutch campaign managers 20th-century Dutch chemists Dutch corporate directors Dutch expatriates in England Dutch expatriates in Ethiopia Dutch expatriates in Hong Kong Dutch expatriates in Luxembourg Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch officials of the European Union Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch people of German descent Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit (Portugal) Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Harvard Business School alumni Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Leaders of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Leiden University alumni Academic staff of Leiden University Ministers of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of the Interior of the Netherlands Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Municipal councillors of Wassenaar People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Politicians from The Hague Unilever people 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch businesspeople