Gerhardine Ruth Peetoom (born 25 July 1967) is a Dutch politician of 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 ...

(CDA). She is the Party Chair of the

since 2 April 2011.

Biography

Peetoom is born in the province of

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the we ...

and grew up in the eastern part of the province of

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

. She studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

at the

Vrije Universiteit The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

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 ...

. Being a

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...

of the

Protestant Church in the Netherlands The Protestant Church in the Netherlands ( nl, de Protestantse Kerk in Nederland, abbreviated PKN) is the largest Protestant denomination in the Netherlands, being both Calvinist and Lutheran. It was founded on 1 May 2004 as the merger of the ...

(PKN), she has been employed at the St. Nicholaschurch (''Nicolaïkerk'') in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

since 2006. From 1999 to 2005 she was a CDA member of the

States-Provincial The provincial council (, PS), also known as the States Provincial, is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the provinces of the Netherlands. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has ...

. In 2010 she was vice-chair of the Frissen Commission, which investigated the CDA's huge loss in the

2010 Dutch general election General elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 9 June 2010. This was triggered by the fall of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's fourth cabinet on 20 February with Queen Beatrix accepting the resignation of the Labour Party (P ...

. In April 2011 she was elected Party Chair of the Christian Democratic Appeal with over 60% of votes.

References

External links

*
Drs. G.R. (Ruth) Peetoom
(Parlement & Politiek) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peetoom, Ruth 1967 births Living people Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands Dutch women in politics Women Christian clergy Members of the Provincial Council of Groningen Chairmen of the Christian Democratic Appeal People from Breda Politicians from Utrecht (city) Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni 21st-century Dutch Calvinist and Reformed ministers Clergy from Utrecht (city)