Geertruida Catharina Theresia Maria "Truus" Smulders-Beliën ( Beliën; 20 November 1902 – 11 June 1966) was a Dutch politician and teacher who was the mayor of Oost-, West- en Middelbeers in

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic 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 ...

from 1946 to 1966. The first female mayor in the Netherlands, she succeeded her husband after he was executed by

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

soldiers.

Biography

Geertruida Catharina Theresia Maria Beliën was born on 20 November 1902 in Oirschot, Netherlands, the eldest of nine children of Johannes Josephus Beliën and Geertruida Wilhelmina van Rhijn. After studying with the Franciscan Sisters of Oirschot, she became a teacher in Oirschot and

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

schools in 1924. In 1926, she met , who would become mayor of Oost-, West- en Middelbeers the following year. They were engaged in 1931 and married on 28 August 1932, and had four children: Geertruida Maria Catharina Wilhelmina (born 1933), Antonius Josephus Maria Petrus (born 1934), Joanna Maria Louise (born 1937), and Johannes Josephus Wilhelmus (born 1940). Jan was arrested by

Nazi forces The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previou ...

in July 1944 for refusing to provide the names of potential conscripts. He was sent to the

Herzogenbusch concentration camp Herzogenbusch (; ) was a Nazi concentration camp located in Vught near the city of 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. The camp was opened in 1943 and held 31,000 prisoners. 749 prisoners died in the camp, and the others were transferred to othe ...

with other mayors, leaving Truus and their four children in Middelbeers. He was executed in April 1945. After she learned of Jan's death, Truus applied for the position of mayor, writing letters of interest to Minister of the Interior Louis Beel, Queen's Commissioner , and Queen Wilhelmina. With the support of Beel, who had previously written to her to express his condolences, Smulders-Beliën became mayor on 16 April 1946. She was the first female mayor in the Netherlands, and would be the only female mayor in the country until 1964. She was re-appointed as mayor in 1952, 1958, and 1964, and was a

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party (, KVP) was a Roman Catholicism in the Netherlands, Catholic Christian democracy, Christian democratic list of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as ...

member of the

Provincial Council of North Brabant Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Ca ...

beginning in 1950. in her new DAF 600 In 1959 the first

DAF 600 The DAF 600 is a small family car produced by Dutch automaker DAF Trucks, DAF from 1959 until 1963. It was DAF's first production passenger car. The 600 was first presented at the Amsterdam Motor Show in February 1958 and was in production by 1959, ...

cars were manufactured and she and the chair of the Dutch automobile club were given the first two cars off the production line. She had been chosen because she was known and she appeared to have ordered one. She agreed after it was realised that it was her staff who had ordered it and the mayor did not have a driving license. In 1966, Smulders-Beliën was admitted to the hospital in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

due to surgical complications from a

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix or in any layer of the wall of the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later sympt ...

operation. She died on 11 June 1966, at the age of 63. Her funeral was held on 15 June 1966 at in Middelbeers. A statue of Smulders-Beliën, commissioned in part by the municipality of Oirschot, was erected in 2002, the 100th anniversary of her birth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smulders-Beliën, Truus 1902 births 1966 deaths 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch women politicians 20th-century women educators Catholic People's Party politicians Mayors in North Brabant Members of the Provincial Council of North Brabant People from Oirschot Women mayors of places in the Netherlands

Biography

See also

References