Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy (born Pieter Gerbrandij; 13 April 1885 – 7 September 1961) was a Dutch politician and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 3 September 1940 until 25 June 1945. He oversaw the

government-in-exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile ...

based in London under Queen Wilhelmina during the German occupation of the Netherlands. He was a member of the now-defunct Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP), later merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).

Early life

Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy was born on 13 April 1885 in the village of Goënga near

Sneek Sneek (; fy, Snits) is a city southwest of Leeuwarden and the seat of the former municipality of Sneek in the province of Friesland, Netherlands. As of 2011 it is the seat of the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân (Southwest Friesland). Th ...

, in the province of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

, in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He was an ethnic Frisian, and his name is styled in the traditional Frisian way: first name ("Pieter"), patronymic ("Sjoerds", meaning "son of Sjoerd"), family name (Gerbrandy). Incidentally, the name Gerbrandy is also a patronymic; his great-great-grandfather Jouke Gerbrens (1769–1840) took 'Gerbrandy’ as a family name on 30 December 1811. Pieter applied to

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 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 ...

in June 1904, majoring in Law. He would obtain a doctorate in Law in January 1911, and proceeded to work as a lawyer and prosecutor from 1911 until 1920.

Politics

Gerbrandy was a member of the Municipal Council of Sneek from April 1916 until January 1930, the Provincial-Council of Friesland from July 1919 until August 1920, and the Provincial-Executive of Friesland from August 1920 until January 1930. From 1920 to 1930, he was a member of the Provincial Council of Friesland for the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP). He also served as Minister of Justice in 1939, against his party's wishes.

World War II

Due to the German victory of the Battle of the Netherlands in 1940, the Dutch royal family and many leading politicians fled to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

and formed a government-in-exile. This, combined with Dirk Jan de Geer's resignation the same year, resulted in Queen Wilhelmia appointing Gerbrandy as prime minister of the

Dutch government-in-exile The Dutch government-in-exile ( nl, Nederlandse regering in ballingschap), also known as the London Cabinet ( nl, Londens kabinet), was the government in exile of the Netherlands, supervised by Queen Wilhelmina, that fled to London after the G ...

. He also served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Colonial Affairs.

Post-war

After the liberation of the south in 1945, Gerbrandy formed a new cabinet, but resigned after the total liberation of the Netherlands. He opposed the government's "Indonesian policy", and from 1946 to 1950 chaired the National Committee for the Maintenance of the Kingdom's Unity, which opposed Indonesian independence and advocated for the

Republic of the South Moluccas South Maluku, also South Moluccas, officially the Republic of South Maluku, was an unrecognised secessionist republic that claimed the islands of Ambon, Buru, and Seram, which make up the Indonesian province of Maluku. Dutch conquest exert ...

. In 1950, Gerbrandy published ''Indonesia'', which offered an explanation of the history of the relationship between the Netherlands and Indonesia, then the Dutch East Indies, from the 1600s to 1948, which included "The Indies under Dutch rule", "The Rule of Law", "The Japanese Occupation", and "Chaos", with each section outlining Gerbrandy's observations. In 1948, Gerbrandy returned as a member of the Dutch Parliament; however, his hot temper alienated members of his party. In 1956, he was made member of a commission that investigated the affair surrounding Greet Hofmans. Three years later, Gerbrandy resigned as a member of Parliament.

Personal life

On 18 May 1911, Gerbrandy married Hendrina Elisabeth Sikkel (26 February 1886 – 4 May 1980). Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy died on 7 September 1961 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, at the age of 76.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Mr.Dr. P.S. (Pieter) Gerbrandy
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