Hedwig "Hedy" d'Ancona (; born 1 October 1937) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) who served as Minister of Welfare, Health and Culture between 1989 and 1994.

Biography

Education and early career

Hedwig d'Ancona was born in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

on 1 October 1937. She applied at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

in June 1956 majoring in

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

and obtaining a

Bachelor of Social Science The Bachelor of Social Science (BSocSc or BSocSci) is an undergraduate degree. It typically requires three to four years of study in the social sciences at an institution of higher education, primarily found in the Commonwealth of Nations. It c ...

degree in June 1958 before graduating with a

Master of Social Science A Master of Social Science (MSocSc, MSSc or MSS) is a master's degree which has a number of different meanings dependent upon the education system in question. Europe In Finland and Sweden, where the university degree nomenclatura is simply bas ...

degree in July 1962. d'Ancona worked as a television producer for the '' VARA'' from November 1962 until September 1965 and as a researcher at the University of Amsterdam from September 1965 until November 1972. d'Ancona also worked as a political activist in the

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

movement and co-founded the feminist action group Man Woman Society in October 1968. d'Ancona worked as editor-in-chief of the feminist magazine ''

Opzij ''Opzij'' is a mainstream Dutch feminist monthly magazine. The title means "out of the way!"Cas Wouters, "Changes in the 'Lust Balance' of Sex and Love since the Sexual Revolution: The Example of the Netherlands," in History and profile ''Opzi ...

'' from November 1972 until September 1981.

Politics

d'Ancona was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in the 1974 Senate election, taking office on 17 September 1974 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 know ...

chairing the parliamentary committee for Housing and Spatial Planning and the parliamentary committee for Culture, Recreation and Social Work 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

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure Economic, social and cultural rights, economic and social rights, civil and political rights, po ...

and

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

. After the election of 1981 d'Ancona was appointed as State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment in the Van Agt II cabinet, taking office on 11 September 1981. The Van Agt II cabinet fell just seven months into its term on 12 May 1982 and continued to serve in a

demissionary A demissionary cabinet () is a type of caretaker government, caretaker cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet or provisional government in the politics of the Netherlands, Netherlands. Overview The Dutch demissionary cabinet continues the current g ...

capacity until the first cabinet formation of 1982 when it was replaced by the

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Occupations * Janitor (chiefly in the United States), a person who cleans and maintains buildings such as hospitals and schools * Property caretaker, a person who cares for a property * Caregiver or carer (UK), a person wh ...

Van Agt III cabinet on 29 May 1982 and she subsequently returned to the Senate following the resignation of Clovis Cnoop Koopmans, taking office on 31 August 1982 serving as a frontbencher and spokesperson for health, emancipation, gender equality and

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

. In June 1983 d'Ancona announced that she would not stand for the 1983 Senate election and continued to serve until the end of the parliamentary term on 13 September 1983. d'Ancona Rooy was elected as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

in the

1984 European Parliament election The 1984 European Parliament election was the first since the inaugural election of 1979 and the 1981 enlargement of the European Community to include Greece. It was also the last before the accession of Spain and Portugal in 1986. Results sh ...

, taking office on 24 July 1984. After the 1989 general election d'Ancona was appointed as Minister of Welfare, Health and Culture in the Lubbers III cabinet, taking office on 7 November 1989. In April 1994 d'Ancona announced that she would not stand for the 1994 general election but wanted tot return to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. On 16 July 1994 d'Ancona resigned as Minister of Welfare, Health and Culture after she was elected again to the European Parliament, serving from 19 July 1994 until 20 July 1999. d'Ancona was a on the shared

GroenLinks–PvdA GroenLinks–PvdA (), alternatively PvdA–GroenLinks, or GreenLeft–Labour in English, is an alliance between GroenLinks (GL) and the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA) in the Netherlands. The Electoral alliance, political allian ...

list in the June 2024 European Parliament election. She received enough

preference votes Preferential voting or preference voting (PV) may refer to different election systems or groups of election systems: * Any electoral system that allows a voter to indicate multiple preferences where preferences marked are weighted or used as cont ...

to be elected, but she declined her seat.

Other activities

Outside of government, she is known for starting the feminist monthly ''

'' as well as the special interest lobbying group, ''Man-Vrouw-Maatschappij'' (''Man-Woman-Society''), which she co-founded with

Joke Smit Johanna Elisabeth "Joke" Smit (27 August 1933 – 19 September 1981) was a well-known Dutch feminist and politician in the 1970s. Personal life Smit grew up in a reformed family of six children in Vianen. Her father was a teacher. She a ...

. d'Ancona gave the 2015 Mosse Lecture, titled ''Voorbij de M/V-maatschappij?'' (''Beyond the M/F society?''). From April 1995 through June 2004, d'Ancona was Chairwoman of

Oxfam Novib Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty Poverty is a state or conditio ...

(Oxfam Netherlands), serving also as vice-chairman of

Oxfam International Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

during part of her tenure.

Career

*1962 - 1965: TV-producer for the VARA *1965 - 1975: Researcher in

social geography Social geography is the branch of human geography that is interested in the relationships between society and space, and is most closely related to social theory in general and sociology in particular, dealing with the relation of social phenome ...

at the

*1974 - 1981: Member of the first chamber of

Dutch parliament The States General of the Netherlands ( ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States General originated in ...

, for the Labour Party. *1975 - 1981: Director of ''Centrum Beleidsadviserend Onderzoek'' (Cebeon), a company that offers research-based advice to government and non-profit organisations, with

Maurice de Hond Maurice de Hond (born 8 October 1947) is a Dutch pollster and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the Steve JobsSchool, an elementary school which gives each student an iPad to encourage individualized learning. As of 2016, 35 public schools in th ...

*September 1981 - May 1982: Secretary of State, Ministry of Welfare and Employment *August 1982 - September 1983: Member of Parliament *1984-1989: Member of the

*1989-1994: Minister of Welfare, Health and Culture *1994-1999: Member of European Parliament

Honours and decorations

In 1992, Hedy d'Ancona was awarded the Harriet Freezerring, a women's liberation prize, by the monthly ''

'' she started. In 1994, she was named as a Knight of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch honours system, Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion wa ...

. In 2002, she won the ''Aletta Jacobsprijs'', a women's emancipation prize awarded by

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

every two years.

Electoral history

Notes

References

External links

Drs. H. (Hedy) d' Ancona
Parlement & Politiek
Drs. H. d' Ancona (PvdA)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal {{DEFAULTSORT:Ancona, Hedy d' 1937 births Living people Anti-domestic violence activists Anti-globalization activists Dutch anti-poverty advocates Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Dutch feminists Dutch human rights activists Dutch women human rights activists Dutch geographers Dutch lobbyists Dutch magazine editors Dutch women magazine editors Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch people of German-Jewish descent Dutch political writers Dutch sociologists Dutch women sociologists Dutch television producers Dutch women's rights activists Jewish Dutch politicians Jewish Dutch writers Labour Party (Netherlands) MEPs Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) MEPs for the Netherlands 1984–1989 MEPs for the Netherlands 1989–1994 MEPs for the Netherlands 1994–1999 20th-century women MEPs for the Netherlands Ministers of health of the Netherlands Ministers of sport of the Netherlands Oxfam people Politicians from Amsterdam Politicians from The Hague Social geographers Dutch socialist feminists State secretaries for social affairs of the Netherlands University of Amsterdam alumni Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam Women government ministers of the Netherlands Dutch women television producers Writers from Amsterdam Writers from The Hague 20th-century Dutch journalists Dutch women journalists 20th-century Dutch women writers 21st-century Dutch women writers