Antoon Arnold Marie "Teun" Struycken (27 December 1906 – 1 December 1977) was a Dutch jurist and politician, co-founder of 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 ...
(KVP) – now merged into 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-Revolution ...
(CDA).
Struycken worked as a lawyer in
Breda
Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...
from 1932 until 1939 and served as an
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
in Breda from 1939 until 1941. Struycken worked as a jurist for the ''
Algemene Kunstzijde Unie
Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken (VGF, United Rayon Factories) was a German manufacturer of artificial fiber founded in 1899 that became one of the leading European producers of rayon.
During the first thirty years VGF cooperated closely with the Br ...
'' from 1941 until 1942. On 4 May 1942 Struycken was arrested and detained in the
ilag
Ilag is an abbreviation of the German word ''Internierungslager''. They were internment camps established by the German Army in World War II to hold Allied civilians, caught in areas that were occupied by the German Army. They included United Stat ...
of
Sint-Michielsgestel
Sint-Michielsgestel () is a village in the municipality of Sint-Michielsgestel, Netherlands.
Geography
The 120 km long river Dommel flows north from a well near Peer in Belgium. Just north of 's-Hertogenbosch it is joined by the Aa and ...
and was released on 21 January 1944. Following the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Struycken returned as Alderman in Breda from 1945 until 1950. Struycken was appointed as
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
in the
Cabinet Drees–Van Schaik following the resignation of
René Wijers, taking office on 10 July 1950. The Cabinet Drees–Van Schaik fell on 24 January 1951 and continued to serve in a
demissionary capacity. Following the cabinet formation of 1951, after which the Cabinet Drees–Van Schaik was replaced by the
Cabinet Drees I on 15 March, Struycken was not given a ministerial post in the new cabinet. In March 1951 Struycken was appointed
Governor of the Netherlands Antilles
The governor of the Netherlands Antilles was the representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Netherlands Antilles and the head of the government of the Netherlands Antilles.
Duties
With the introduction of the Charter for the Kingdom ...
, taking office on 30 March 1951. After the
election of 1956 Struycken 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, Property and Public Sector Organisations in the
Cabinet Drees III, taking office on 29 October 1956. The Cabinet Drees III fell on 11 December 1958 after the Catholic People's Party and the
Labour Party (PvdA) disagreed on a proposed
Tax
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
increase and continued to serve in a
demissionary capacity until it was replaced by
caretaker
Caretaker may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''The Caretaker'' (film), a 1963 adaptation of the play ''The Caretaker''
* '' The Caretakers'', a 1963 American film set in a mental hospital
* Caretaker, a character in the 1974 film '' ...
Cabinet Beel II with Struycken continuing as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Property and Public Sector Organisations and also took over as Minister of Justice, taking office on 22 December 1958. In January 1959 Struycken announced that he would not stand for the
election of 1959. Following the
cabinet formation of 1959, after which the Cabinet Beel II was replaced by the
Cabinet De Quay on 19 May, Struycken was not given a ministerial post in the new cabinet. In October 1959 he was nominated as
Member of the Council of State, taking office on 1 November 1959. The
Cabinet Cals fell on 14 October 1966 after the ''
Night of Schmelzer'' and continued to serve in a
demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the caretaker
Cabinet Zijlstra with Struycken again appointed as Minister of Justice, taking office on 22 November 1966.
Biography
Early life
Antoon Arnold Marie Struycken was born on 27 December 1906 in
Breda
Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...
in the
Province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
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 ...
in a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
family. Struycken was interred in the
Sint-Michielsgestel
Sint-Michielsgestel () is a village in the municipality of Sint-Michielsgestel, Netherlands.
Geography
The 120 km long river Dommel flows north from a well near Peer in Belgium. Just north of 's-Hertogenbosch it is joined by the Aa and ...
prison camp during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Politics
He was among others Minister of Justice, Governor of the Netherlands Antilles, Minister of the Interior and a member of the Dutch Council of State. He was also alderman of Breda from 1938 to 1941, and from 1944 to 1950. After the war he was briefly Minister of Justice, in which capacity he commuted the death sentences of "" (,
Ferdinand aus der Fünten
Ferdinand Hugo aus der Fünten (17 December 1909 – 19 April 1989), widely known as Fünten, was an '' SS-Hauptsturmführer'' and head of the Central Office for Jewish Emigration in Amsterdam during the Second World War. He was responsible for ...
,
Joseph Kotalla, and
Willy Lages
Willy Paul Franz Lages (5 October 1901 – 2 April 1971) was the German chief of the Sicherheitsdienst in Amsterdam during the Second World War. From March 1941 he led the so-called ''Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung'' (Central Bur ...
) to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
.
Governor of the Netherlands Antilles
While Governor of the Netherlands Antilles, Struycken came into conflict with the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands Antilles, who wanted to install S.W. van der Meer as Minister of Justice. Van der Meer, who had his own law practice in Curaçao, did not agree to give up his practice as a lawyer completely, prompting Struycken to refuse to install Van der Meer. The Dutch Antillean government complained to the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands about the governor's inappropriate involvement in government matters. The Netherlands government eventually agreed with the Antillean government. This affair resulted in a reorientation of the office of Governor of the Netherlands Antilles, which increasingly began to resemble the role of the constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.
[Oostindie and Klinker 2001: 75]
Decorations
Bibliography
*
References
External links
*
Mr. A.A.M. (Teun) StruyckenParlement & Politiek
{{DEFAULTSORT:Struycken, Teun
1906 births
1977 deaths
Aldermen in North Brabant
People from Breda
Catholic People's Party politicians
Deputy Prime Ministers of the Netherlands
Dutch nonprofit directors
Dutch nonprofit executives
Dutch Roman Catholics
Dutch political party founders
Dutch people of World War II
Dutch prisoners of war in World War II
Governors of the Netherlands Antilles
Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau
Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Ministers of Justice of the Netherlands
Ministers of the Interior of the Netherlands
Members of the Council of State (Netherlands)
Members of the Provincial Council of North Brabant
Municipal councillors of Breda
People from Nijmegen
Radboud University Nijmegen alumni
Roman Catholic State Party politicians
World War II civilian prisoners
World War II prisoners of war held by Germany
20th-century Dutch civil servants
20th-century Dutch jurists
20th-century Dutch lawyers
20th-century Dutch politicians