Maximilian Steenberghe

Maximilian Paul Leon Steenberghe (born May 2, 1899 in Leiden , † January 22, 1972 in Goirle ) was a Dutch politician.

Life and activity

After attending high school, Steenberghe studied law at the University of Utrecht . He completed his training in 1920 with a doctorate in law. He then worked in the textile industry, in which he took a leading position over time. In addition, he published papers on economic topics. He also sat on the board of various economic organizations and was a member of the Dutch group of the International Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Catholic Employers' Association (1930 to 1934).

In June 1934, Steenberghe took over the post of Minister of Economics in the Colijn government , but he resigned from his position in June 1935 when his request to devalue the Dutch crown was rejected by the cabinet. In June 1937 he rejoined the 2nd Colijn Cabinet as Minister of Economics, with which he remained in government until July 23, 1939.

After a brief period of inactivity, Steenberghe was appointed Minister of Economic Affairs (Minister for Trade, Industry and Shipping) for the third time in the same year: this time in the de Geer government , to which he belonged until 1941. As recently as March 1939, Steenberghe campaigned for the expansion of Dutch-German economic relations. In his position as Minister of Economics, in view of the occupation of the Netherlands by the German Wehrmacht in May 1940, he was evacuated to Great Britain on May 13, 1940 together with the rest of the Dutch government from Hoek van Holland in a destroyer. In 1942 he temporarily withdrew from government because he opposed the cabinet decision to increase the prime minister's power.

After the start of the war, Steenberghe was classified as an important target by the National Socialist police forces: In the spring of 1940, the Reich Main Security Office in Berlin put him on the special wanted list GB , a directory of people whom the Nazi surveillance apparatus considered particularly dangerous or important, which is why they should be successful Invasion and occupation of the British Isles by the Wehrmacht should be located and arrested by the occupying troops following SS special commandos with special priority.

From 1942 to 1944, Steenberghe headed the Dutch Economic Mission in Washington, DC

In 1944 he was appointed Minister for Trade, Industry and Shipping in the Gerbrandy government and charged with preparing for the rebuilding of the Dutch economy, which had been shattered by war and occupation, after the end of the war and the return of control of the country to meet the Dutch government.

After the war, Steenberghe was a special advisor to the Dutch government and a member of the boards of directors of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company , Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company and Shell Petroleum Company .

literature

• World Biography, Vol. 5, 1954, p. Iv
• Biographical archive 08/1951 of February 12, 1951 ( digital copy )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Entry on Steenberghe on the special wanted list GB (reproduced on the website of the Imperial War Museum in London) .