Hans van Mierlo

Henricus Antonius Franciscus Maria Oliva "Hans" van Mierlo (18 August 1931 – 11 March 2010) was a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party.

Van Mierlo a journalist by occupation, worked for the NRC Handelsblad as a managing editor from 1960 until 1967. In 1966 Van Mierlo together with Hans Gruijters founded the Democrats 66 party after continuing frustrations with the The Establishment parties. Van Mierlo was selected as Leader and Chairman of the Democrats 66 on 14 October 1966. For the Dutch general election of 1967 Van Mierlo was the Lijsttrekker (top candidate) and won seven seats in the House of Representatives, the first time the Democrats 66 won representation in the States General of the Netherlands. Van Mierlo was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives and the Parliamentary leader of the Democrats 66 in the House of Representatives on 23 February 1967. For the Dutch general elections of 1971 Van Mierlo again as Lijsttrekker won eleven seats. For the Dutch general election of 1972 Van Mierlo for the third time as Lijsttrekker won only six seats but after a long formation period a coalition agreement with the Labour Party (PvdA), Catholic People's Party (KVP), Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) and the Political Party of Radicals (PPR) was made which formed the Cabinet Den Uyl. Hans Gruijters became Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning. Because of the disappointing election results Van Mierlo resigned as Parliamentary leader of the Democrats 66 in the House of Representatives and Leader of the Democrats 66 on 1 September 1973. Van Mierlo remained a Member of the House of Representatives until after the Dutch general election of 1977 on 8 June 1977. After the Dutch general election of 1981 Van Mierlo was asked by Jan Terlouw to become Minister of Defence in the Cabinet Van Agt II under Prime Minister Dries van Agt of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and served from 11 September 1981 until 4 November 1982. After the Dutch Senate election of 1983 Van Mierlo was elected as a Member of the Senate serving from 13 September 1983 until 4 June 1986. In 1986 Van Mierlo staged a political comeback and was re-elected as the Leader of the Democrats 66 on 25 January 1986. For the Dutch general election of 1986 Van Mierlo back as Lijsttrekker won nine seats. For the Dutch general election of 1989 Van Mierlo again as Lijsttrekker won twelve seats. For the Dutch general election of 1994 Van Mierlo for the sixth time as Lijsttrekker won twenty four seats and the Democrats 66 became major-party in the House of Representatives. After an arduous cabinet formation with the Labour Party and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) a deal was struck that resulted in the Cabinet Kok I with Van Mierlo becoming Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs serving from 22 August 1994 until 3 August 1994. The Cabinet Kok I was considered groundbreaking in Dutch politics because it was the first Cabinet of the Netherlands since 1908 without a Christian democratic party. On 7 March 1997 Van Mierlo announced his retirement as Leader of the Democrats 66. Van Mierlo remained Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs until the Cabinet Kok II was installed on 3 August 1998. For the Dutch general election of 1998 Van Mierlo was re-elected to the House of Representatives on 19 May 1998 but resigned on 18 August 1998.

Van Mierlo semi-retired from active politics on his sixty-seventh birthday. He served as the first Dutch representative to the Convention on the Future of Europe from 1 March 2002 until 26 September 2002. Following the end of his active political career, Van Mierlo occupied numerous seats on supervisory boards on cultural organizations.

Van Mierlo was known for his abilities as a team leader, consensus builder and an advocate for Third Way-politics. On 24 October 1998, he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State.

Early life
Henricus Antonius Franciscus Maria Oliva van Mierlo was born on 18 August 1931 in Breda in the Netherlands Province of North Brabant in a Roman Catholic family as the second child of eight children of Anthonius Alphonsus Marie van Mierlo (born 9 May 1902) and Adriana Maria Francisca van der Schrieck (born 3 April 1905). After receiving his diploma Gymnasium-A at the Canisius College in Nijmegen he studied at the Radboud University Nijmegen, where he received a Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws degree in 1960. After graduating, he became a journalist for the NRC Handelsblad and worked as a managing editor from 1960 until 1967, first as an editor Home Affairs, later as the opinion page's chief editor.

Politics
In 1966 he co-founded the social liberal Democrats 66 (D66). He was a Member of the House of Representatives from February 23, 1967 until June 8, 1977. He was the Democrats 66 first Chair of the Parliamentary Party in the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) from February 16, 1967 until September 1, 1973. From September 11, 1981 until November 4, 1982 he was Minister of Defense in the Cabinets van Agt II and III. He served as a Member of the Senate (Eerste Kamer) from September 13, 1983 until June 4, 1986. He again served as a Member of the House of Representatives from June 3, 1986 until August 22, 1994 and as Chair of the Parliamentary Party of the House of Representatives from May 22, 1986 until August 19, 1994. Van Mierlo concluded his political career as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister from August 22, 1994 until August 3, 1998 in the Cabinet Kok I.

Personal
He was appointed Minister of State on October 24, 1998, a mainly honorary title for politicians with an extensive history of government service. Hans van Mierlo has been married three times. He has a son from his first marriage and two daughters from the second. Since 1999 Van Mierlo had a relationship with the Dutch writer Connie Palmen; they got married on November 11, 2009, in Amsterdam.

Death
Hans van Mierlo died on March 11, 2010 at the age of 78; he had been living with a transplanted liver since 2000 which was required after liver failure as a consequence of a hepatitis C contamination contracted from a blood transfusion in 1982.

Decorations

 * Commander in the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands, 1982)
 * Commander in the Legion of Honour (France, 1999)
 * Grand Cross in the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Germany, 2003)