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Jelle Zijlstra
Minister of State
In office April 30, 1983 – December 23, 2001
Monarch	Beatrix
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office November 22, 1966 – April 5, 1967
Monarch	Juliana
Preceded by	Jo Cals
Succeeded by	Piet de Jong
Minister of Finance
In office November 22, 1966 – April 5, 1967
Prime Minister	Jelle Zijlstra
Preceded by	Anne Vondeling
Succeeded by	Johan Witteveen
Member of the Senate
In office June 25, 1963 – November 22, 1966
Minister of Finance
In office December 22, 1958 – July 24, 1963
Prime Minister	Louis Beel (1958-1959) Jan de Quay (1959-1963)
Preceded by	Hendrik Jan Hofstra
Succeeded by	Johan Witteveen
Minister of Economic Affairs
In office September 2, 1952 – May 19, 1959
Prime Minister	Willem Drees (1952-1958) Louis Beel (1958-1959)
Preceded by	Jan van den Brink
Succeeded by	Jan Willem de Pous
Born	August 27, 1918(1918-08-27) Oosterbierum, Netherlands
Died	December 23, 2001 (aged 83) Wassenaar, Netherlands
Birth name	Jelle Zijlstra
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	ARP (1952-1980) CDA (from 1980)
Spouse(s)	Hetty Bloksma (born 1921)
Alma mater	Erasmus University Rotterdam (PhD)
Occupation	Politician Economist Professor
Religion	Reformed Protestant

Jelle Zijlstra (August 27, 1918 - December 23, 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 November 22, 1966 until April 5, 1967. A successful economist he later served as President of the Dutch Bank from May 1, 1967 until January 1, 1982. He was widely respected for his expertise and integrity. ^[1]

Biography

Early life

Jelle Zijlstra was born in Oosterbierum on August 27, 1918. 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.

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 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 theoretical economics at the Vrije Universiteit.

Politics

He was already a member of the Anti Revolutionary Party, which was to be absorbed in 1980 into the Christian Democratic Appeal. Representing this party he became between September 2, 1952 and July 24, 1963, successively Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cabinets Drees III, Drees IV and Beel II. And Minister of Finance in the Cabinets Beel II and de Quay.

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. After the fall of the Cabinet Cals, Zijlstra headed an interim government as Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of Finance between November 22, 1966 until April 5, 1967.

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

Trivia

On April 29, 1983 he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State.

Jelle Zijlstra died in Wassenaar on 23 December 2001 at the age of 83. ^[2]

References

External links

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

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