Jim de Booy

Jim de Booy (1945)

James Marnix "Jim" de Booy (* 24. July 1885 in Kralingen, Rotterdam ; † 1. March 1969 in Lausanne , Switzerland ) was a Dutch officer , business leaders , non-party politician and diplomat who, after a career with the Royal Navy as a manager worked for the energy company NV Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij (BPM) and, after the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II in 1940, was a member of the foreign policy advisory body and the shipping and trade commission of the government-in-exile in Great Britain , and in 1944 he was Minister for Shipping and Fisheries in the third cabinet of Prime Minister Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy was appointed. Some time later he also took over the office of Minister of the Navy in this government .

After the end of the war, de Booy served between 1945 and 1946 as Minister of the Navy and Minister of Shipping in the cabinet of Prime Minister Willem Schermerhorn and was also temporarily acting Minister of War. In 1951 he became the first ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany and held this post until 1953.

Life

Naval officer and economic manager

De Booy, son of the naval officer and later Vice-Admiral Chrétien Jean Gérard de Booy as well as Mary Jane Hobson from Ireland , completed his school education at the Instituut Wegerif in Nijmegen and then began training as a naval officer at the Royal Naval Institute KIM (Koninklijk Instituut voor de Marine) in 1900 ) in Willemsoord , which he graduated on September 10, 1904. He then joined the Royal Navy (Koninklijke Marine) on September 10, 1904 as a midshipman and served as a naval officer until April 1, 1919. After he was promoted to first lieutenant at sea on June 10, 1906 , he was last employed as an officer in the submarine associations from 1910 to April 1, 1919 .

After retiring from military service, on April 1, 1919, van Booy moved to the energy company NV De Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij (BPM) in Amsterdam and initially worked in the laboratory and shortly thereafter between 1919 and 1921 as area director of BPM for the Dutch East Indies in Perlak , marriage from 1921 to November 1922 he was Vice-Inspector for the company's wells in the Kingdom of Romania . In November 1922 he initially worked for the Caribbean Petroleum Company in Maracaibo , Venezuela , but returned to BPM in May 1923 and worked at their headquarters in The Hague .

Subsequently, in January 1924, de Booy was again employed by the Caribbean Petroleum Company in Maracaibo and then acted there between January 1926 and 1928 as acting director and then from 1928 to 1932 as director of the company. Afterwards he was holder of the general power of attorney of BPM in The Hague between 1932 and 1937 and at the same time from 1932 to January 1, 1937 also holder of the general power of attorney of the NV Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij , also located in The Hague . January 1937 and May 31, 1944 was director of NV Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij. He also acted as director of the Anglo-Saxon Petrol Company until May 31, 1944.

In 1939 he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Dutch Lion for his services .

World War II and Minister

After the German occupation of the Netherlands, de Booy became a member of the Dutch Shipping and Trade Commission in London in May 1940 and was a member of this until May 31, 1944. He was also a member of the Foreign Policy Advisory Committee of the government-in-exile in London between June 8, 1942 and May 31, 1944.

On May 31, 1944, de Booy was appointed by Prime Minister Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy to his third cabinet and took over the office of Minister for Shipping and Fisheries (Minister van Scheepvaart en Visserij) until June 24, 1945 . At the same time he was appointed acting Minister of War (Minister van Oorlog ad Interim) on February 23, 1945 and held this position until Jan de Quay was appointed on April 4, 1945. During this time, he was also appointed Vice Admiral of the Reserve Koninklijke Marine awarded.

In addition, de Booy was also appointed Minister of the Navy (Minister van Marine) on February 23, 1945 and retained this position in the first government after the end of the Second World War, the Schermerhorn / Drees cabinet formed by Prime Minister Willem Schermerhorn on June 24, 1945, and held the post of Minister of the Navy until July 3, 1946. Furthermore, as a non-party, he was also appointed acting minister of shipping (Minister van Scheepvaart ad Interim) on June 25, 1945 and held this office until July 3, 1946.

Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany

Dietkirchener Hof in Urfeld , residence of the Dutch ambassador

After being a member of the United Nations' Balkan Mission between 1947 and 1948 , de Booy became head of the Dutch mission at the Allied Control Council in Berlin on December 1, 1948, and held this position until April 1, 1951.

De Booy then became the first extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany. As such, he resided in the Dietkirchener Hof manor house in Urfeld and remained in this diplomatic post until December 1, 1952, when he was replaced by Arnold Theodoor Lamping .

After retiring from the diplomatic service, he was appointed Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau on January 31, 1953 .

His marriage to Erminie Louise Thompson in Rotterdam on December 11, 1915 resulted in two daughters.

Web links

• Parlement & Politiek