His Excellency
Jaap Burger
Jaap Burger in 1944
Member of the Council of State
In office
1 October 1970 – 1 September 1979
Vice PresidentLouis Beel
(1970–1972)
Marinus Ruppert
(1973–1979)
Delegation leader in the
European Parliament
In office
7 May 1967 – 29 September 1970
Preceded byMarinus van der Goes van Naters
Succeeded byAd Oele
Member of the European Parliament
In office
20 October 1966 – 29 September 1970
Parliamentary groupSocialist Group
ConstituencyNetherlands
Member of the Senate
In office
5 June 1963 – 1 October 1970
Leader of the Labour Party
In office
22 December 1958 – 16 September 1962
DeputyAnne Vondeling (1959–1962)
Preceded byWillem Drees
Succeeded byAnne Vondeling
President of the Benelux Parliament
In office
1 January 1958 – 1 January 1959
Preceded byFrans Van Cauwelaert
Succeeded byCamille Linden
Parliamentary leader in the
House of Representatives
In office
2 September 1952 – 16 September 1962
Preceded byLeendert Antonie Donker
Succeeded byAnne Vondeling
In office
16 January 1951 – 18 September 1951
Preceded byMarinus van der Goes van Naters
Succeeded byLeendert Antonie Donker
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
20 November 1945 – 16 September 1962
Minister of the Interior
In office
31 May 1944 – 27 January 1945
Prime MinisterPieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy
Preceded byHendrik van Boeijen
Succeeded byHendrik van Boeijen
(Ad interim)
Minister for Return Policy
In office
11 August 1943 – 31 May 1944
Prime MinisterPieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice discontinued
Personal details
Born
Jacobus Albertus Wilhelmus Burger

(1904-08-20)20 August 1904
Willemstad, Netherlands
Died19 August 1986(1986-08-19) (aged 81)
Wassenaar, Netherlands
Political partyLabour Party (from 1946)
Other political
affiliations		Social Democratic
Workers' Party (1929–1946)
Spouse
Emma Petronella Visser
​
​
(m. 1947)​
Alma materUniversity of Amsterdam
(Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws)
OccupationPolitician · Civil servant · Jurist · Lawyer · Nonprofit director · Media administrator · Lobbyist

Jacobus Albertus Wilhelmus "Jaap" Burger (20 August 1904 – 19 August 1986) was a Dutch politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA) and jurist. He was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 4 January 1975.[1]

Early life and education

Burger attended a Gymnasium in Rotterdam from April 1917 until May 1923 and applied at the University of Amsterdam in July 1923 majoring in Law and obtaining an Bachelor of Laws degree in June 1925 before graduating with an Master of Laws degree in July 1929. Burger worked as a lawyer in Dordrecht from October 1929 until December 1942. On 10 May 1940 Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands and the government fled to London to escape the German occupation. Burger joined the Dutch resistance against the German occupiers in August 1942. In January 1943 Burger escaped the German occupation to England. Burger worked as political advisor for Minister of Social Affairs Jan van den Tempel from February 1943 until August 1943.

Political career

Burger was appointed as Minister for Return Policy in the Cabinet Gerbrandy II by Queen Wilhelmina, taking office on 11 August 1943. Burger was appointed as Minister of the Interior following the resignation of Hendrik van Boeijen, taking office on 31 May 1944. On 27 January 1945 Burger was forced to resign by Prime Minister Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy following an impromptu remark during a radio address where he differentiated between "wrongful" Dutch civilians (foute Nederlanders) and Dutch civilians who made a mistake (Nederlanders die een fout hebben gemaakt) during the War, but because Prime Minister Gerbrandy did not discuss this with rest of the cabinet all Social Democratic Workers' Party cabinet members resigned in response and the cabinet continued to serve in a demissionary capacity.

Following the end of World War II Queen Wilhelmina ordered a Recall of Parliament and Burger was appointment as a Member of the House of Representatives taking the place of the deceased Theo van der Waerden, taking office on 20 November 1945 serving as a frontbencher and spokesperson for the Interior and the de facto Whip. On 9 February 1946 the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP), the Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) choose to merge in a political alliance to form the Labour Party (PvdA), with Burger as one of the co-founders he became one of the unofficial Deputy Leaders of the Labour Party. Burger also became active in the public sector and worked as media administrator for the public broadcaster VARA serving as Chairman of the Supervisory board from 12 February 1949 until 20 December 1966. After the Parliamentary leader of the Labour Party in the House of Representatives Marinus van der Goes van Naters announced he was stepping down as Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives following a conflict with Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party Willem Drees the Labour Party leadership approached Leendert Antonie Donker as his successor but the day before he took office Parliamentary leader-designate Donker took a leave of absence for health reasons and the Labour Party leadership approached Burger as interim Parliamentary leader, serving from 16 January 1951 until 18 September 1951. After the election of 1952 Donker was appointed as Minister of Justice in the Cabinet Drees II and the Labour Party leadership approached Burger as Parliamentary leader, taking office on 2 September 1952. Burger also served as President of the Benelux Parliament from 1 January 1958 until 1 January 1959. On 11 December 1958 the Cabinet Drees III fell and incumbent Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party Drees announced his retirement from national politics and that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1959, the Labour Party leadership approached Burger as his successor, Burger accepted and became the Leader and one of the Lijsttrekkers, taking office on 22 December 1958. The Labour Party suffered a small loss, losing 2 seats and fell back as the second largest party and now had 48 seats in the House of Representatives. On 16 September 1962 Burger announced that he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives following increasing criticism on his leadership. Burger remained in active in national politics, he was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1963, taking office on 5 June 1963 serving as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Defence and deputy spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and NATO. Burger was selected as a Member of the European Parliament and dual served in those positions, taking office on 20 October 1966. After the Delegation leader of the Labour Party in the European Parliament Van der Goes van Naters resigned Burger was appointed as Delegation leader, taking office on 7 May 1967. Burger was nominated as a Member of the Council of State, serving from 1 October 1970 until 1 September 1979. After his retirement Burger occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director for supervisory boards for several international non-governmental organizations and research institutes (International Institute of Social History, Transnational Institute, Royal Netherlands Historical Society, Netherlands Atlantic Association and the Rijksmuseum) and as an advocate and lobbyist for European integration, Benelux cooperation and serving on several commissions for the European Economic Community and state commissions on behalf of the Dutch government.

Decorations

Military decorations
Ribbon barDecorationCountryDateComment
Bronze Cross Netherlands 26 July 1943
Resistance Memorial Cross Netherlands 30 April 1982
Honours
Ribbon barHonourCountryDateComment
Grand Officer of the Order of the House of Orange Netherlands 19 August 1944
Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown Belgium 4 September 1954
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour France 1 May 1958
Commander of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Netherlands 16 September 1962 Elevated from Knight (31 August 1946)
Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau Netherlands 1 September 1979 Elevated from Commander (4 January 1975)
Honorific Titles
Ribbon barHonourCountryDateComment
Minister of State Netherlands 4 January 1975 Style of Excellency

References

  1. ↑ "Burger, Jacob Albertus Wilhelmus" (in Dutch). Huygens ING. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
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