Daniël "Daan" Monjé (24 October 1925 – 1 October 1986) was a Dutch

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

. Monjé, a

pipefitter A pipefitter or steamfitter is a tradesman who installs, assembles, fabricates, maintains, and repairs mechanical piping systems. Pipefitters usually begin as helpers or apprentices. Journeyman pipefitters deal with industrial/commercial/marine ...

by profession in the

port of Rotterdam The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the List of bus ...

, was co-founder of both the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

and its direct predecessor, the

Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands (Marxist–Leninist) Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands (marxist-leninist) (; KEN (ml)) was a communist organization in the Netherlands founded in 1964. History The organization started as a pro-China leftist faction within the Communist Party of the Nether ...

(KEN-ML). Monjé was expelled from the

Communist Party of the Netherlands The Communist Party of the Netherlands (, , CPN) was a communist party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1909 as the Social Democratic Party (Netherlands), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and merged with the Pacifist Socialist Party, the ...

(CPN) together with his '' kameraad'' Nico Schrevel in 1966 because of overt sympathy for Mao. Monjé and Schrevel had by then founded the Marxist-Leninist Center (MLC) in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, renamed the Marxist-Leninist Center in the Netherlands (MLCN) in 1965. With these, they tried to influence the CPN and individual members of that party from outside to opt for

Maoism Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

. From 1967, the course to influence the CPN was abandoned and attention was directed towards the formation of a distinct political party. This became the KEN, founded in 1970. In 1971, the paths of Schrevel and Monjé split after an ideological disagreement. Monjé and a number of followers, including future party leader

Jan Marijnissen Johannes Guillaume Christianus Andreas "Jan" Marijnissen () (born 8 October 1952) is a retired Dutch politician of the Socialist Party (SP). Marijnissen, a welder by occupation, was selected as Leader of the Socialist Party after the death of ...

, formed the Communist Party of the Netherlands (Marxist-Leninist) (KPN-ML), which would be renamed Socialist Party (SP) a year later. Hans van Hooft Sr. became chairman of the new party. In the background, however, Monjé was in charge of the SP. He would maintain this position until his death. The SP was not able to penetrate the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

during this period, but was represented in a number of municipal councils, including in

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

and

Oss OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...

. Monjé played an important role in the construction of the SP. His sense of business and organizational talent ensured that the SP, despite its marginal size, had a well-stocked party fund, with which various actions could be funded. In the last years of his life, Monjé's power waned. A point of contention between him and other members of the party council was the UK miners' strike of 1984–85. A debate arose in the party about support for the miners, against the wishes of Monjé, who thought that the SP should support the strikers unconditionally. Against the will of the board, Monjé bought food packages, which he sent to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Before the conflict could be resolved in the party, he fell seriously ill. Daan Monjé died in October 1986 at the age of sixty. His funeral at Hofwijk General Cemetery in Rotterdam was attended by hundreds of ''kameraden'' from the CPN, KEN and SP.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monje, Daan 1925 births 1986 deaths Leaders of the Socialist Party (Netherlands) Socialist Party (Netherlands) politicians Communist Party of the Netherlands politicians Dutch communists Metalworkers Politicians from Amsterdam