Johan Willem Beijen

Wim Beyen (1952)

Johan Willem Beijen , nickname Wim Beyen (born May 2, 1897 in Utrecht , † April 29, 1976 in The Hague ) was a Dutch banker, politician and diplomat.

Beyen was together with Joseph Luns between 1952 and 1956 Foreign Minister of the Netherlands in the third cabinet of Willem Drees . He himself did not belong to any party during his life. Previously, he was a senior civil servant and was responsible for bank finance. During his time as minister he played a major role in the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC).

Although Beyen saw money and banking as his destiny, he described his time as foreign minister as the most pleasant and fruitful period of his life. However, his relationship with his colleague Joseph Luns was characterized by disputes over competence and was considered to be conflictual. After the legislative period, Luns became sole foreign minister and Beyen became the Dutch ambassador in Paris (1958 to 1963).

A Protestant by birth , his father was a member of the Algemene Doopsgezinde Sociëteit and his mother Remonstrant , he later converted to Catholicism .

Awards

• Large Decoration of Honor in Gold on Ribbon for Services to the Republic of Austria (1955)

Web links

• AE Kersten: Beijen, Johan Willem. Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 2008, accessed February 10, 2010 . 
• Newspaper article about Johan Willem Beijen in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ European Commission: Johan Willem Beyen - A plan for a common market . In: European Union website . (PDF, 145 kB)
2. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.6 MB)