Henk Beernink

Henk Beernink (1969)

Hendrik "Henk" Karel Jan Beernink (born February 2, 1910 in Maarssen , Utrecht Province ; † August 22, 1979 in Rijswijk , South Holland Province ) was a Dutch politician at Christelijk-Historische Unie (CHU), who was a member of the Second Chamber of the States General and Minister of the Interior from 1967 to 1971.

Life

Studies, professional activities and party official

After attending the Protestant primary schools in Maarssen and Dordrecht , Beernink attended the municipal high school in Dordrecht from 1922 to June 1928 and then studied law at the University of Utrecht , which he graduated in January 1932.

He then began his professional career as a civil servant in the local government and worked first in the secretariat of the Papendrecht community and then between 1935 and 1939 head of the tax office of the Almelo community . Already at this time he was involved in the CHU and in 1935 became secretary of the CHU association in Papendrecht and was also a member of the executive board of the CHU youth association until 1940 .

Afterwards he was head of the main and legal office of the municipality of Rijswijk between 1939 and 1945 and then after the end of the Second World War he was municipal secretary from 1945 to April 1967.

MP, CHU Chairman and Minister

The De Jong cabinet at the swearing-in on April 5, 1967 in front of Huis ten Bosch : Interior Minister Beernink (9th from left) with Prime Minister Piet de Jong (7th from left) and the other cabinet

In 1945 he became chairman of the party court of the CHU Dordrecht and then took over the office of party secretary of the CHU from January 1946 to July 1958.

In June 1946 he was elected as a candidate of the CHU for the first time as a member of the Second Chamber of the States General and was a member of this for more than twenty years until April 1967. During this time he was deputy chairman of the parliamentary group between July 1956 and May 1963 .

On April 29, 1958, Beernink was made a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion .

On July 9, 1958, he was elected chairman of the CHU and held this office until March 19, 1966. Beernink, who was the CHU's top candidate in the parliamentary elections in May 1963 and February 1967, was from May 1963 to April 1967 finally himself chairman of the parliamentary group of the CHU in the second chamber. In this role he was also the party's political leader.

On April 5, 1967, he was appointed Minister of the Interior in his cabinet by Prime Minister Piet de Jong and was a member of this until the end of de Jong's term of office on July 6, 1971.

Due to his many years of political service, he was appointed commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau after leaving the government . Because of his services to the CHU, Beernink was also made an honorary member of the party on April 29, 1972.

Web links

• Biography in Parlement & Politiek
• Netherlands Ministries (rulers.org)