Jelle Zijlstra

Jelle Zijlstra (27 August 1918 – 23 December 2001) was a Dutch politician of the now defunct Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP), which merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) in 1977. He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 November 1966 until 5 April 1967.

An economist by occupation, he became a professor of Economics at the Vrije Universiteit at the age of thirty in 1948. Zijlstra was asked to become Minister of Economic Affairs after the Dutch general election of 1952 in the second Drees cabinet under Prime Minister Willem Drees of the Labour Party, he resigned as a professor the same day he took office as the new Minister of Economic Affairs on 2 September 1952. Zijlstra became the lijsttrekker (top candidate) of the Anti-Revolutionary Party for the Dutch general election of 1956 and served as party leader from 23 April 1956 to 3 October 1956, and as the parliamentary party leader of the Anti-Revolutionary Party in the House of Representatives from 14 June 1956 to 3 October 1956 and a Member of the House of Representatives from 3 July 1956 to 3 October 1956. After a slow cabinet formation the third Drees cabinet was formed and Zijlstra remained Minister of Economic Affairs. The Drees III cabinet fell on 22 December 1958 and a caretaker cabinet was formed by former Prime Minister Louis Beel of the Catholic People's Party. Zijlstra remained as Minister of Economic Affairs and simultaneously served as Minister of Finance in the second Beel cabinet. Zijlstra again became the lijsttrekker for the Anti-Revolutionary Party during the Dutch general election of 1959, and served as party leader of the Anti-Revolutionary Party a second time from 29 December 1958 until 26 May 1959. After a quicker formation the new De Quay cabinet was formed on 19 May 1959. Zijlstra remained Minister of Finance under the new Prime Minister Jan de Quay of the Catholic People's Party, and served until 14 July 1963, when the Marijnen cabinet was installed.

Zijlstra became a Member of the Senate on 25 June 1963 and returned to the Vrije Universiteit as an associate professor of Public finances. On 14 October 1966, the Cals cabinet, the successor of the Marijnen cabinet, fell after the party leader of the Catholic People's Party Norbert Schmelzer introduced a motion of no confidence against the cabinet and Prime Minister Jo Cals, who was a member of his own party. The Dutch political landscape was fractured and Zijlstra was asked to form a caretaker cabinet of which the primary task was to write out an early general election in 1967. Zijlstra became Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of General Affairs on 22 November 1966 and resigned as a Member of the Senate. Zijlstra simultaneously served as Minister of Finance, leading the Zijlstra cabinet until 5 April 1967 when the De Jong cabinet was installed.

After his premiership, Zijlstra retired from active politics at the age of forty-eight and became the President of De Nederlandsche Bank, the central bank of the Netherlands, serving from 1 May 1967 until 1 January 1982. He had already been appointed as President of the bank on 16 September 1966, but his unexpected premiership delayed this. Zijlstra also occupied numerous seats on supervisory boards in the business and industry world. Zijlstra was widely respected for his expertise and integrity, and was a godparent of King Willem-Alexander. On 30 April 1983 he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State, which he held until his death.

Early life
Jelle Zijlstra was born on 27 August 1918 in Oosterbierum in the province of Friesland in a Reformed family, the son of Ane Jelle Zijlstra (born 14 November 1879) and Pietje Postuma (born 6 March 1897), both of which had also been born in the village. After completing his secondary education he studied at the Netherlands School of Economics, the predecessor of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. His studies were interrupted twice: first by his period of military service and later when he had to go into hiding in 1942 after refusing to sign the loyalty oath required of students by the Nazi occupation authorities. Even so, he completed his economics degree in October 1945 as a Master of Economics.



Immediately after graduating, Zijlstra became a research assistant at the Netherlands School of Economics and was promoted a year later to senior research assistant and in 1947 to lecturer. In 1948 he was awarded a doctorate as a Doctor of Philosophy with cum laude for his thesis on the rate of circulation of money and its bearing on the value of money and monetary equilibrium. In the same year he was appointed professor of economics at the Vrije Universiteit.

Politics
Representing the Anti-Revolutionary Party, Zijlstra successively served as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Drees II, Drees III and Beel II cabinets, and as Minister of Finance in the Beel II and De Quay cabinets between 2 September 1952 and 24 July 1963.

Following his ministerial career, Zijlstra returned to the Vrije Universiteit as professor of public finance, though he also served between 1963 and 1966 as a member of the Senate. In 1973 Zijlstra became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. After the fall of the Cabinet Cals, Zijlstra headed an interim government as Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of Finance between 22 November 1966 until 5 April 1967.

From 1967 until the end of 1981 he was President of De Nederlandsche Bank, the central bank of the Netherlands, and in the course of that period he was also President of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel. He has sat on many boards in the public and private sectors.

Personal
On 11 March 1946 Zijlstra married his childhood sweetheart Hetty Bloksma (born 30-01-1921, died 19-11-2013). They had three daughters and two sons, who were born between 1947 and 1961. The last months of life were dominated by his deteriorating health, and he suffered from increasing memory loss. Jelle Zijlstra died in Wassenaar on 23 December 2001 at the age of eighty-three Zijlstra, and was buried at the cemetery of the local Reformed Church in Wassenaar. His younger brother Rinse Zijlstra (born 19 April 1927) was also a Member of the House of Representatives, serving from 23 February 1967 until 10 May 1971 and a Member of the Senate serving from 12 April 1983 until 13 June 1995 for the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Democratic Appeal.

Decorations

 * 🇦🇹 Austria
 * Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
 * AUT Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria - 2nd Class BAR.png Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash (1958)
 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands
 * Order of the Netherlands Lion
 * NLD Order of the Dutch Lion - Commander BAR.png Commander (July 27, 1963)
 * NLD Order of the Dutch Lion - Grand Cross BAR.png Knight Grand Cross (November 18, 1981)
 * Order of Orange-Nassau
 * NLD Order of Orange-Nassau - Knight Grand Cross BAR.png Knight Grand Cross (April 27, 1967)