Ruud Lubbers

Ruud Lubbers, 2016

Rudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers ( Dutch  [ ˈryt ˈlʏbərs ] , born May 7, 1939 in Rotterdam ; † February 14, 2018 ibid) was a Dutch politician and economist . From 1982 to 1994 the Christian Democrat was Prime Minister of the Netherlands. He was the youngest and longest ruling head of government in the history of the country. From January 2001 until his resignation in February 2005, he was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and thus head of the UN refugee agency UNHCR .

Life

Lubbers, who came from a very wealthy entrepreneurial family, studied economics at the Dutch Business School ( Nederlandse Economische Hogeschool ) in Rotterdam.

He lived in Rotterdam and had been married to Ria Hoogeweegen since 1962. The couple had three children.

The grave of Ruud Lubbers in the Catholic Laurentius Cemetery in Rotterdam.

politics

Ruud Lubbers and the then US Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger , 1983

Lubbers joined the left wing of the Katholieke Volkspartij and stayed in the party after 1968, when a progressive group split off as the Politieke Partij Radikal . After completing his studies, Lubbers held positions in Christian employers' associations and held high political offices: from 1973 to 1977 he was Minister of Economics in the Den Uyl government . In 1978 he became parliamentary group leader of the CDA .

From 1982 to 1994 Lubbers served as Dutch Prime Minister, initially with the right-wing liberal VVD. The Lubbers I cabinet found a creative solution to NATO's double decision on cruise missiles . From 1986 to 1989 there was the Lubbers II cabinet .

During the difficult time of German reunification , in mid-1990 he insisted on a pan-European conference on Germany's future and thus incurred the anger of Helmut Kohl , who described him as the “most dishonest” among the European heads of government in his terms. Three years later, Kohl's veto prevented Lubbers from becoming President of the European Commission as successor to Jacques Delors . Instead, Jacques Santer from Luxembourg was appointed.

After the coalition with the VVD broke up in 1989 and his party won the early election that followed, Lubbers ruled with the social democratic PvdA ( Lubbers III cabinet ). In the 1994 election he was no longer a top candidate for the CDA. With the recommendation not to elect his designated successor Elco Brinkman , but Ernst Hirsch Ballin , 3rd man on the CDA list, he may have contributed to the great defeat. The CDA fell from 54 to 34 seats (from a total of 150).

International career

Ruud Lubbers, 1985

After the end of his political career and before his appointment as UN Commissioner for Refugees, he taught globalization at Tilburg and Harvard and held a high post at the World Wide Fund for Nature . The economist also taught globalization as a professor at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam . At times Lubbers was also under discussion as a candidate for the post of NATO Secretary General .

On February 20, 2005, he resigned from his post as UN refugee commissioner after allegations of sexual harassment were made. Four women said they had been sexually molested by Lubbers, according to a UN investigation report quoted by The Independent newspaper , but made no formal complaints. A fifth woman said Lubbers put his hands around her waist and pulled her close. Lubbers protested his innocence and spoke of defamation . The nickname "Lewd Rubbers" ("lascivious condom ") comes from the time of this affair . The successor in the UNHCR was António Guterres .

Since his return to the Netherlands, Lubbers has been particularly committed to sustainability in addition to refugees and disarmament . In July 2006 he served the Queen as an informator .

Awards

Lubbers was influenced by the French philosophers Henri Bergson and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin . Lubbers was a member of the Club of Rome . In 1987 (or 1991) he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Infante Dom Henrique and in 1993 the Order Against the Seriousness of the Aachen Carnival Society . In 1995 he was appointed Minister of State and received the Four Freedoms Special Award . He has received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Georgetown University (USA), Universities of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (Portugal) and University of Nijmegen .

Web links

Commons : Ruud Lubbers  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Dr. RFM (Ruud) Lubbers , Parlement & Politiek
• Lubbers drove an electric car

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Oud-premier Ruud Lubbers (78) overleden on nos.nl
2. ↑ John Tagliabue: DUTCH CABINET DECIDES TO DELAY A DECISION ON MISSILES Deploying , In: New York Times , June 2, 1984
3. ↑ [1]
4. ^ Political Leaders of Contemporary Western Europe: A Biographical Dictionary edited by David Wilsford, p. 287. online at books.google.nl
5. ↑ Roosevelt Institute, List of Prize Winners ( Memento of the original from March 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 14, 2012 
6. ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/ruud-lubbers