Johannes Theodoor de Visser

Johannes Theodoor de Visser ( caricature by Albert Hahn , 1907)

Johannes Theodoor de Visser (born February 9, 1857 in Utrecht , † April 14, 1932 in 's-Gravenhage ) was a Dutch clergyman of the Dutch Reformed Church and politician of the Christelijk-Historische Kiezersbond (CHK), the Christelijk-Historische Partij ( CHP) as well as the Christelijk-Historische Unie (CHU), which was, among other things, a long-time member of the Second Chamber of the States General and Minister of Education, Art and Science for several years .

Life

Study and predicant of the Dutch Reformed Church

After attending grammar school in Utrecht, de Visser began to study law at the Utrecht University in 1874 , which he finished in 1879 with the candidate exam. At the same time he began another study of theology there , which he completed in May 1880 with a doctorate with a dissertation entitled De daemonologie van het Oude Testament “cum laude”.

After completing his studies, he was appointed preacher of the Dutch Reformed Church in Leusden in December 1880 and then from May 1884 to May 1888 in Almelo , before he was preacher in Rotterdam between May 1888 and May 1892 . Most recently de Visser worked between May 1892 and September 1909 as a preacher of the Dutch Reformed Church in Amsterdam .

MP and Minister

In September 1897 he was elected for the first time as a candidate of the Christelijk-Historische Kiezersbond , of which he was deputy chairman between December 1896 and February 1902, as a member of the Second Chamber of the States General and first represented the constituency of Rotterdam I and then from 1901 to September 1905 the constituency of Amsterdam II . Between February 1902 and April 1903 he was finally chairman of the CHK.

In June 1905 he was elected as a candidate for the Christelijk-Historische Partij , of which he was a member from April 1903 to July 1908, as a member of the Second Chamber of the States General, in which he represented the constituency of Leiden until September 1913 , most recently since July 1908 for the Christelijk-Historische Unie . In July 1908, de Visser was initially deputy chairman of the newly founded CHU and was then chairman of this party from February 1913 to September 1918.

Later he was again a member of the Second Chamber between June 1914 and September 1918, this time for the constituency of Katwijk .

At the same time, de Visser was from June 1916 to September 1918 a member of the provincial parliament ( Provinciale Staten ) of the province of South Holland , where he represented the constituency of Leiden .

On September 26, 1918, de Visser was appointed the first Dutch Minister for Education, the Arts and Sciences to the cabinet of Prime Minister Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck and held this office during Beerenbrouck's second term until August 3, 1925.

During this time he was again a member of the Second Chamber between July and September 1922 and also a political leader of the CHU between February 1921 and July 1929.

Group leader and minister of state

After leaving the government, he was re-elected as a member of the Second Chamber of the States General in September 1925 and was a member of it until September 1929. During this time he was also chairman of the CHU parliamentary group in the second chamber. he led a theologically justified debate about the granting of grants for the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, although he was actually an opponent of the use of texts from the Bible in parliamentary debates.

In addition, between 1925 and 1929, together with Reinhardt Snoeck Henkemans , de Visser was editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper de Nederlander published by the CHU and also a member of the main board of the CHU between 1927 and 1928.

On the occasion of his seventieth birthday on February 9, 1927, he was appointed commander of the Order of the Dutch Lions . On August 31, 1931, he was awarded the honorary title of Minister of State for his longstanding political services.

De Visser's son Johannes Anthonie de Visser was a lawyer and politician also the CHU, which from July 25 to August 10, 1939 Minister of Justice and several years Attorney General at the Court of Arnhem and member of the High Council of the Netherlands was. His second cousin Lou de Visser was chairman of the Communist Partij van Holland (CPH) between 1925 and 1935 and chairman of its parliamentary group in the Second Chamber from 1925 to 1941. He was most recently interned in the Neuengamme concentration camp after the occupation of the Netherlands by the German Wehrmacht and died on May 3, 1945 in the Bay of Lübeck .

Publications

• De daemonologie van het Oude Testament , dissertation, Utrecht University, 1880
• Hosea, de man des geestes , 1886
• Onze Plichten , 1893
• Hebreeuwsche archeologie , 2 volumes, 1898
• Ons Staatkundig Beginsel , 1908
• De christelijk-sociale Bewegungs van onzen tijd , 1913
• Kerk en Staat , 3 volumes, 1926–1927

Background literature

• QA de Ridder: A national figure: biography over wijlen Z.Ex. Dr. J.Th. de Visser , 1932

Web links

• Biography in Parlement & Politiek
• Netherlands Ministries (rulers.org)
• Entry in the Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland (online version)