Roel de Wit

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Roel de Wit (1976)

Roelof "Roel" Josephus de Wit (born March 31, 1927 in Amsterdam ; † June 3, 2012 in Haarlem , province of North Holland ) was a Dutch politician of the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) who, among other things, was mayor of Alkmaar between 1970 and 1976 and then until 1992 Commissioner of the Queen ( Commissaris van de Koningin ) for the province of North Holland.

Life

Degree, career and alderman of Amsterdam

After attending the Hogereburgerschool in Amsterdam, de Wit studied biology at the University of Amsterdam and became a member of the Youth Association for Natural History ( Nederlandse Jeugdbond voor Natuurstudie ). After completing his studies, he became an employee of the Commission for Nature and Landscape Protection in 1949 and was its secretary from 1954 to 1965. In this role, he gave the commission a new role in which he published critical writings on the agricultural sector, in which he published it identified as the main culprit for the degradation of nature and landscape.

De Wit, who already became a member of the PvdA in 1946, began his political career at the end of the 1950s when he was first elected a member of the Provinciale Staten of the province of North Holland in 1958 and continued this until 1976. In 1962 he became a member of the City Council of Amsterdam and between 1965 and 1970 was an alderman for the city of Amsterdam and as such was responsible for public works, urban development and matters of the agglomeration . During his tenure, he built the Bijlmermeer housing estate in the Zuidoost district of Amsterdam and planned the Amsterdam Metro, which opened in 1977 .

Mayor and Commissioner to the Queen

In 1970 he succeeded HJ Wijtema as mayor of Alkmaar and held this position until he was replaced by Cees Roozemond in 1976.

Subsequently, on August 16, 1976, he succeeded Ferdinand Jan Kranenburg, the Queen's Commissioner for the Province of North Holland, and held this office until he was replaced by Jos van Kemenade on April 1, 1992. During his sixteen-year term in office, he also held numerous offices in the areas of nature conservation and spatial planning and has been chairman of the provincial planning commission since 1981.

For his services, de Wit, who was married to a daughter of the former Minister for Reconstruction and Public Housing Joris in 't Veld , was honored several times and was first knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion on April 11, 1979 . After he became commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau on April 29, 1983 , he was appointed Grand Officer of this order on February 25, 1992 .

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personal data
SURNAME Wit, Roel de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wit, Roelof Josephus de (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch politician (PvdA)
DATE OF BIRTH March 31, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Amsterdam
DATE OF DEATH June 3, 2012
Place of death Haarlem , North Holland Province