Klaas George de Vries (born 28 April 1943) is a retired

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and jurist. De Vries attended a Gymnasium in

Heerlen Heerlen (; li, Heële ) is a city and a municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the fourth municipality in the province of Limburg. ...

from June 1955 until July 1961 and applied at the

Hamline University Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline o ...

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

in July 1961 majoring in

Public Administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

and obtaining a Bachelor of Public Administration degree in August 1962 before transferring to the

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

in September 1962 majoring in

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and obtaining a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree in June 1964 and graduating with a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree in July 1968. De Vries worked as a civil servant for the department for Administrative Affairs of the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

from August 1968 until April 1971 and as a researcher at the

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam (abbreviated as ''EUR'', nl, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam ) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humanist ...

from April 1971 until May 1973. De Vries served on the

Municipal Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

from March 1970 until April 1974. De Vries became a Member of the House of Representatives after Bram Stemerdink was appointed as State Secretary for Defence in the Cabinet Den Uyl after the election of 1972, taking office on taking office on 28 May 1973 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 kno ...

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

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

and chairing the parliamentary inquiry commission on construction grants. In August 1988 De Vries was nominated as Executive-Director of the Association of Municipalities, he resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives the same day he was installed as Executive-Director on 1 September 1988. In December 1995 De Vries was nominated as Chairman of the Social and Economic Council, he resigned as Executive-Director the same day he was installed as Chairman, taking office on 1 January 1996. After the election of 1998 De Vries was appointed as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the Cabinet Kok II, taking office on 3 August 1998. De Vries served as acting Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries from 7 June 1999 until 9 June 1999 following the resignation of

Haijo Apotheker Harm Haijo Apotheker (born 5 June 1950, Loppersum) is a Dutch politician for the Democraten 66 party. He was mayor of several Dutch townships, including Leeuwarden. From 1998 to 1999 Apotheker was Minister of Agriculture in the Second Kok cabinet ...

. De Vries was appointed as

Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations The Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations ( nl, Minister van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties) is the head of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and a member of the Cabinet and the Council of Ministers. The in ...

following the resignation of

Bram Peper Abraham "Bram" Peper (13 February 1940 – 20 August 2022) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). Early life After finishing the Hogere Burgerschool, Peper studied social sciences at the University of Amsterdam until 1965 and eco ...

, taking office on 24 March 2000. After the election of 2002 De Vries returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 23 May 2002. The Cabinet Kok II was replaced by the Cabinet Balkenende I following the cabinet formation of 2002 on 22 July 2002 serving as a frontbencher and spokesperson for

Integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...

. After the Leader of the Labour Party and

Parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are the ...

of the Labour Party in the House of Representatives

Ad Melkert Adrianus Petrus Wilhelmus "Ad" Melkert (; born 12 February 1956) is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the Labour Party (PvdA) who has served as a Member of the Council of State since 20 January 2016. Melkert studied Political science at the U ...

announced that he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives following the defeat in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

, De Vries announced his candidacy to succeed him. De Vries lost the leadership election to former State Secretary for Finance

Wouter Bos Wouter Jacob Bos (; (born 14 July 1963) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and businessman. Bos attended the Christian Gymnasium in Zeist from June 1975 until July 1980 and applied at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam i ...

on 12 November 2002. In July 2006 De Vries announced that he wouldn't stand for the election of 2006 and continued to serve until the end of the parliamentary term on 30 November 2006. De Vries remained in active in national politics, he was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 2007, taking office on 12 June 2007 serving as a frontbencher and spokesperson for

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

and chairing several

parliamentary committees A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

. De Vries also became active in the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

and occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards ( Humanist Association, Parliamentary Documentation Center,

Transnational Institute The Transnational Institute (TNI), is an international non-profit research and advocacy think tank that was founded in 1974, Amsterdam, Netherlands. According to their website, the organization promotes a "... just, democratic and sustainable wor ...

International Fellowship of Reconciliation The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1914 in response to the horrors of war in Europe. Today IFOR counts 71 branches, groups and affiliates in 48 countries on all continents. IFOR me ...

Atlantic Association The Atlantic Association was a minor league baseball organization that operated between 1889 and 1890 and again in 1908 in the Northeastern United States. History First Demise In each of the two seasons 4 or more teams failed to finish the season a ...

, Institute for Multiparty Democracy, ProDemos and the

International Institute of Social History The International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG) is one of the largest archives of labor and social history in the world. Located in Amsterdam, its one million volumes and 2,300 archival collections include the papers of major figur ...

) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Council for Public Administration, Cadastre Agency, Advisory Council for Spatial Planning and Public Pension Funds APB) and as an advocate, lobbyist and activist for the

Anti-war movement An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to ...

Humanitarianism Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...

and

Democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

. De Vries also worked as a sport administrator for the Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Federation (NOC*NSF) and also served as a distinguished professor of Governmental Studies,

Public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

and

Political history Political history is the narrative and survey of political events, ideas, movements, organs of government, voters, parties and leaders. It is closely related to other fields of history, including diplomatic history, constitutional history, social ...

at the

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century D ...

from 1 June 2009 until 10 October 2012. In November 2014 De Vries announced his retirement from national politics and that he wouldn't stand for the Senate election of 2015 and continued to serve until the end of the parliamentary term on 9 June 2015. De Vries is known for his abilities as a

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

r and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. De Vries continues to comment on political affairs as of .

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Prof.Mr. K.G. (Klaas) de Vries
Parlement & Politiek *
Prof.Mr. K.G. de Vries (PvdA)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal {{DEFAULTSORT:de Vries, Klaas Chairmen of the Social and Economic Council Dutch crime fiction writers Dutch democracy activists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch humanists Dutch humanitarians Dutch lobbyists Dutch male novelists Dutch mystery writers Dutch public administration scholars Dutch sports executives and administrators Erasmus University Rotterdam faculty Governmental studies academics Grand Officers of the Order of Leopold II Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Hamline University alumni Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Members of the Social and Economic Council Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Ministers of Agriculture of the Netherlands Ministers of Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands Ministers of the Interior of the Netherlands Ministers of Social Affairs of the Netherlands Municipal councillors of Delft People from Delft People from Heerlen People from Pijnacker-Nootdorp Radboud University Nijmegen faculty Utrecht University alumni 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch educators 21st-century Dutch historians 21st-century Dutch jurists 21st-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Dutch novelists 21st-century Dutch politicians 1943 births Living people