Jérôme Heldring

Jérôme Louis Heldring (born December 21, 1917 in Amsterdam , † April 27, 2013 in The Hague ) was a Dutch journalist . From 1968 to 1970 he was editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant and after its merger with Algemeen Handelsblad to form NRC Handelsblad from 1970 to 1972 one of three editors-in-chief of this daily newspaper.

Life

Background and promotion to editor-in-chief

Heldring was born in 1917 to a wealthy and influential Amsterdam shipowner and a French woman. Despite his mother's early death - she died when he was ten - French remained the table language in his parents' home. The young hero ring sympathized with the Dutch National Socialists NSB (not yet anti-Semitic at the time) between 1933 and 1935 , but then broke away from them again. He studied law at the University of Leiden , was drafted into the army in August 1939 and served in the mounted artillery during the German invasion of World War II in May 1940.

After the surrender of the Dutch armed forces, Heldring completed his studies and then initially worked for the Leiden publishing house “Brill” . In July 1945 he began his journalistic career as a foreign editor for the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant , which at that time was temporarily called the Nationale Rotterdamsche Courant (due to the publication beyond 1942, a short-term publication ban was imposed in the ordinary name). From 1949 to 1953 Heldring worked in New York for the Nederlands Informatie Bureau, but then returned to his old newspaper in the Netherlands because he was more interested in political reporting. In 1958, Heldring became deputy editor-in-chief and from 1960 began to make an additional name for himself with the “Dezer Dagen” section. In 1968 he was finally appointed editor-in-chief.

After the merger with Algemeen Handelsblad to form NRC Handelsblad in 1970 , Heldring formed the three-person editor-in-chief together with Henk Hofland and André Spoor . Heldring had been an advocate of the controversial merger, but then found it traumatic, since the editorial cultures of the two predecessor newspapers were quite different and the democratization of the new newspaper slowed down all processes. In the end he was satisfied with the result, but saw himself more as a reflective than an organizing editor. Heldring drew the consequences from this and left the newspaper in 1972; Spoor was the only editor-in-chief left over that year. Heldring became director of the Nederlands Genootschap voor Internationale Zaken and held this position until his retirement in 1982.

Positions represented by Heldring

Heldring stayed with the NRC Handelsblad as a columnist after he left the editor-in-chief. Since then, he has continued to write for the newspaper into the 21st century , making him one of the longest-serving journalists in the Netherlands. His sharp-tongued comments go hand in hand with the self-image as an independent and realistic conservative who was not always in line with politically like-minded people. As early as 1945, Heldring spoke out in favor of the decolonization of the Dutch East Indies , as he saw no future for staying there due to a lack of international support. In 1977 he supported the Democrats 66 because he considered them to be a more suitable corrective to the PvdA than the Christian conservatism represented by the later Prime Minister Dries van Agt , which he was skeptical of because of his aversion to linking politics and religion. Heldring himself was a member of the VVD until 1965 .

During the Cold War , Heldring advocated talks with the Eastern Bloc from a position of strength, but after the end of that era questioned the continued existence of NATO . This was also expressed in his rejection of the Dutch participation in the Kosovo war , of which he was not convinced even in retrospect, despite the achievement of NATO's war goals. Heldring also accused the hypocrisy of those people who would turn against anti-democratic policies but were supporters of communist dictators in earlier years .

Heldring had no objection to a touch of elitism , as he soberly stated a natural inequality between people. They claim that democracy, which inherits human flaws, is the least bad form of government and the most likely to benefit them. He also transferred this image of man to the nations, which are better served by maintaining their peculiarities than with a unified thinking. From 1985 to 1998, Heldring devoted himself monthly to human error in his column in a special way, then he addressed sloppy language in politics and the media - much to the displeasure of Prime Minister Lubbers , to whom he attributed a woolly language .

honors and awards

• 1993: Honorary doctorate from the University of Amsterdam
• 2007: Anne Vondelingprijs

Works

• Het verschil met others , Van Oorschot, Amsterdam 1975
• Moraal en buitenlandse politiek , Universitaire Pers Rotterdam, 1975
• Andermans veren , Balans, Amsterdam 1986
• Geschiedenis Na 1945 , Utrecht, Aula 1988
• Een dilettant , Van Oorschot, Amsterdam 1989
• De taal op zichzelf is niets , Veen, Amsterdam / Antwerp 1993
• Heel ons fundament kraakt en other kanttekeningen , Van Oorschot, Amsterdam 2003
• De conservatieve uitdaging , Prometheus / NRC Handelsblad, Amsterdam / Rotterdam 2003

literature

• Piet Hagen: Journalists in Nederland. Een Persgeschiedenis in portraits. Uitgeverij De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam / Antwerp 2002. ISBN 90-295-2222-4

Web links

• Portrait at De Groene Amsterdammer (Dutch)
• Portrait at NRC Handelsblad (Dutch)