Jo Meynen

Jo Meynen (1945)

Johannes "Jo" Meynen (born April 13, 1901 in Winsum , Friesland province ; † February 13, 1980 in Velp , Gelderland province ) was a Dutch entrepreneur , business manager and politician of the Anti-Revolutionaire Partij (ARP), who was initially Secretary General of the War Ministry and between 1945 and 1946 himself Minister of War in the Schermerhorn / Drees cabinet of Prime Minister Willem Schermerhornand was thus the only minister of his party in this government. As Minister of War, he was responsible for sending units of the armed forces to the Dutch East Indies . After leaving the government, he worked in business and for several years was CEO of the synthetic fiber manufacturer Algemeene Kunstzijde Unie NV (AKU).

Life

Studies, reserve officer and World War II

Meynen, son of a preacher , attended the public grammar school in Dordrecht from 1913 to July 1920 and then began studying law in the Netherlands at the Free University of Amsterdam in 1920 , which he graduated in March 1926. At the same time, between July 1920 and 1925, he completed training as a reserve officer at the Reserve Officer School of the Infantry SROI (School voor Reserve-Officieren Infranterie) , which he graduated in 1925 as a sub-lieutenant . In addition, between 1924 and 1925 he was the rector of the student corps at the Free University of Amsterdam.

His professional career began Meynen 1927 as deputy secretary of the Chamber of Commerce (Kamer van Koophandel en Fabrieken) of Arnhem and surrounding area and then served 1928-1930 as head of the sales department of the European Office of chemical and munitions manufacturer Hercules Powder Company , before he was Deputy Managing Director of the Hercules Powder Company's European office between 1930 and 1940. In January 1931 he was also promoted to lieutenant in the reserve. After completing his work at Hercules Powder Company, he was director of the incandescent lamp factory group of the Koninklijke Philips NV between 1940 and 1944 and was then a major of the reserve on the staff of the armed forces command from 1944 to 1945 .

Minister of War and Economic Manager

After the end of the German occupation , shortly before the end of the Second World War in April 1945 , Meynen became the acting general secretary of the War Ministry. Subsequently, on June 25, 1945, Prime Minister Willem Schermerhorn appointed him to the Schermerhorn / Drees cabinet, where he held the post of Minister of War (Minister van Oorlog) until July 3, 1946 . He was the only minister of the Anti-Revolutionaire Partij (ARP) in this government and was largely responsible for the deployment of associations of the armed forces to the Dutch East Indies. After leaving the government, Meynen was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Dutch Lion on September 17, 1946 .

After leaving the government, Meynen returned to the economy and was initially Vice-Chairman of the Management Board between October 7, 1946 and 1948, and then Chairman of the Management Board of the synthetic fiber manufacturer Algemeene Kunstzijde Unie NV (AKU) from 1948 to May 1, 1960. In 1949 he was also involved in party politics as an advisory member of the central committee of the constituency associations of the ARP. He was then acting chairman of the board from May 1, 1960 to June 1, 1962 and then again chairman of the board of AKU between June 1, 1962 and June 1, 1966. His last position was from June 1, 1966 to May 1, 1971, as Vice-Chairman of the Board of AKU, which was renamed AKZO after the merger with Koninklijke Zwanenberg Organon (KZO) in 1969.

For his services to the Dutch economy, Meynen was also appointed commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau on May 11, 1966 .

His marriage to Nelia Laura "Nelly" Westerhuis, which he entered into in Arnhem on September 23, 1930, resulted in two sons and three daughters.

Web links

• Parlement & Politiek