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Barend Biesheuvel
Chair of the Parliamentary Party - ARP House of Representatives
In office November 30, 1972 – March 7, 1973
Preceded by	Willem Aantjes
Succeeded by	Willem Aantjes
Member of the House of Representatives
In office December 7, 1972 – March 7, 1973
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office July 6, 1971 – May 11, 1973
Monarch	Juliana
Preceded by	Piet de Jong
Succeeded by	Joop den Uyl
Chair of the Parliamentary Party - ARP House of Representatives
In office February 16, 1967 – July 6, 1971
Preceded by	Bauke Roolvink
Succeeded by	Willem Aantjes
Member of the House of Representatives
In office February 23, 1967 – July 6, 1971
Minister for Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs
In office July 24, 1963 – April 5, 1967
Prime Minister	Victor Marijnen (1963-1965) Jo Cals (1965-1966) Jelle Zijlstra (1966-1967)
Preceded by	Henk Korthals
Succeeded by	Joop Bakker
Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
In office July 24, 1963 – April 5, 1967
Prime Minister	Victor Marijnen (1963-1965) Jo Cals (1965-1966) Jelle Zijlstra (1966-1967)
Preceded by	Victor Marijnen
Succeeded by	Pierre Lardinois
Deputy Prime Minister
In office July 24, 1963 – April 5, 1967 Serving with Anne Vondeling (1965-1966) Jan de Quay (1966-1967)
Prime Minister	Victor Marijnen (1963-1965) Jo Cals (1965-1966) Jelle Zijlstra (1966-1967)
Preceded by	Henk Korthals
Succeeded by	Johan Witteveen
Member of the European Parliament for the Netherlands
In office March 7, 1961 – July 24, 1963
Member of the House of Representatives
In office November 6, 1956 – July 24, 1963
Born	April 5, 1920(1920-04-05) Haarlemmerliede, Netherlands
Died	April 29, 2001 (aged 81) Haarlem, Netherlands
Birth name	Barend Willem Biesheuvel
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	ARP (1956-1980) CDA (from 1980)
Spouse(s)	Mies Meuring (1919-1989)
Alma mater	Vrije Universiteit (LL.M.)
Occupation	Politician Civil servant Jurist
Religion	Reformed Protestant
Nickname(s)	Handsome Barend

Barend Willem Biesheuvel (April 5, 1920 - April 29, 2001) was a Dutch politician of the dissolved Anti Revolutionary Party now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal. He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from July 6, 1971 until May 11, 1973.^[1]

Biography

Early life

After completing his secondary education at local schools, he graduated in law at the Free University of Amsterdam in September 1945.

For the next two years Biesheuvel worked in Alkmaar as secretary to the Food Commissioner for the Province of North Holland. In 1947 he became secretary to the Foreign Division of the Agricultural Society (now the Agricultural Board). In 1952 Mr Biesheuvel became general secretary of the Dutch Protestant Farmers and Market Gardeners Union (CBTB) and in 1959 chairman of that organisation. From the same year he was also a member of the Agricultural Board, the Labour Foundation and the boards of the Centrale Raifeissen Bank and Heidemij.

Politics

Between 1956 and 1963 he represented the ARP in the House of Representatives (the lower house of parliament). From 1957 to 1961 he held a seat on the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe and from 1961 to 1963 in the European Parliament^[2].

In the successive administrations headed by Marijnen, Cals and Zijlstra between 24 July 1963 and 5 April 1967 he was Deputy Prime Minister with additional responsibility for matters concerning Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles, and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.

In 1967 he returned to the House of Representatives and became leader of the parliamentary ARP. During the same period he also chaired the Shipbuilding Board and the Committee on Government Information Reform.

Finally, from July 6, 1971 to May 11, 1973, Biesheuvel was Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of General Affairs in the government that bore his name^[2].

Following his political career, Biesheuvel went on to occupy many other positions in the public and private sectors. Among other things, he was chairman of the supervisory board of the National Investment Bank, a member of the supervisory boards of OGEM and KLM, and chaired the working party on the Netherlands Antilles, the national advisory committee on the relationship between the electorate and policy-making, the Provisional Council for Transport, Public Works and Water Management and the Interministerial Coordinating Committee on North Sea Affairs (ICONA).

Trivia

Barend Biesheuvel died in a hospital in Haarlem after a long illness on 29 April 2001 he was 81.

References

External links

• (Dutch) Official Parliamentary Biography
• Biography on the Ministry of General Affairs

Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Gerrit Schimmelpenninck • Jacob De Kempenaer • Johan Rudolph Thorbecke • Floris Adriaan van Hall  • Justinus Van der Brugghen • Jan Jacob Rochussen • Jacob van Zuylen van Nijevelt • Isaäc Dignus Fransen van de Putte • Julius van Zuylen van Nijevelt •Pieter Philip van Bosse • Gerrit de Vries • J. Heemskerk • Kappeyne van de Coppello • Van Lynden van Sandenburg • J. Heemskerk • Mackay • Van Tienhoven • Roëll • Pierson • Kuyper • De Meester • T. Heemskerk • Cort van der Linden • Ruijs de Beerenbrouck • Colijn • De Geer • Gerbrandy • Schermerhorn • Beel • Drees • De Quay • Marijnen • Cals • Zijlstra • De Jong • Biesheuvel • Den Uyl • Van Agt • Lubbers • Kok • Balkenende