Teun Struycken

Antoon Arnold Marie "Teun" Struycken (27 December 1906 – 1 December 1977) was a Dutch jurist and politician, co-founder of the Catholic People's Party (KVP) – now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).

Teun Struycken
Teun Struycken in 1950
Member of the Council of State
In office
16 April 1967 – 1 December 1977
Vice PresidentLouis Beel (1967–1972)
Marinus Ruppert (1972–1977)
In office
1 November 1959 – 22 November 1966
Vice PresidentLouis Beel
Deputy Prime Minister
In office
29 October 1956 – 19 May 1959
Prime MinisterWillem Drees (1956–1958)
Louis Beel (1958–1959)
Preceded byLouis Beel
Succeeded byHenk Korthals
Minister of the Interior, Property
and Public Sector Organisations
In office
29 October 1956 – 19 May 1959
Prime MinisterWillem Drees (1956–1958)
Louis Beel (1958–1959)
Preceded byKo Suurhoff (Ad interim)
as Minister of the Interior
Succeeded byEdzo Toxopeus
as Minister of the Interior
Governor of the Netherlands Antilles
In office
30 March 1951 – 29 October 1956
MonarchJuliana
Preceded byLeonard Peters
Succeeded byFrans van der Valk
Minister of Justice
In office
22 November 1966 – 5 April 1967
Prime MinisterJelle Zijlstra
Preceded byIvo Samkalden
Succeeded byCarel Polak
In office
22 December 1958 – 19 May 1959
Prime MinisterLouis Beel
Preceded byIvo Samkalden
Succeeded byAlbert Beerman
In office
10 July 1950 – 15 March 1951
Prime MinisterWillem Drees
Preceded byJohan van Maarseveen
(Ad interim)
Succeeded byHendrik Mulderije
Personal details
Born
Antoon Arnold Marie Struycken

(1906-12-27)27 December 1906
Breda, Netherlands
Died1 December 1977(1977-12-01) (aged 70)
The Hague, Netherlands
Political partyCatholic People's Party
(from 1945)
Other political
affiliations		Roman Catholic
State Party (until 1945)
Spouse
Matthea Feldbrugge
​
(m. 1935)​
Children6 sons and 2 daughters
Alma materRadboud University Nijmegen
(Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws)
OccupationPolitician · Civil servant · Jurist · Lawyer · Nonprofit director

Struycken worked as a lawyer in Breda from 1932 until 1939 and served as an Alderman in Breda from 1939 until 1941. Struycken worked as a jurist for the Algemene Kunstzijde Unie from 1941 until 1942. On 4 May 1942 Struycken was arrested and detained in the ilag of Sint-Michielsgestel and was released on 21 January 1944. Following the end of World War II Struycken returned as Alderman in Breda from 1945 until 1950. Struycken was appointed as Minister of Justice in the Cabinet Drees–Van Schaik following the resignation of René Wijers, taking office on 10 July 1950. The Cabinet Drees–Van Schaik fell on 24 January 1951 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity. Following the cabinet formation of 1951, after which the Cabinet Drees–Van Schaik was replaced by the Cabinet Drees I on 15 March, Struycken was not given a ministerial post in the new cabinet. In March 1951 Struycken was appointed Governor of the Netherlands Antilles, taking office on 30 March 1951. After the election of 1956 Struycken was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Property and Public Sector Organisations in the Cabinet Drees III, taking office on 29 October 1956. The Cabinet Drees III fell on 11 December 1958 after the Catholic People's Party and the Labour Party (PvdA) disagreed on a proposed Tax increase and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by caretaker Cabinet Beel II with Struycken continuing as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Property and Public Sector Organisations and also took over as Minister of Justice, taking office on 22 December 1958. In January 1959 Struycken announced that he would not stand for the election of 1959. Following the cabinet formation of 1959, after which the Cabinet Beel II was replaced by the Cabinet De Quay on 19 May, Struycken was not given a ministerial post in the new cabinet. In October 1959 he was nominated as Member of the Council of State, taking office on 1 November 1959. The Cabinet Cals fell on 14 October 1966 after the Night of Schmelzer and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Zijlstra with Struycken again appointed as Minister of Justice, taking office on 22 November 1966.

Biography

Early life

Antoon Arnold Marie Struycken was born on 27 December 1906 in Breda in the Province of North Brabant in a Roman Catholic family. Struycken was interred in the Sint-Michielsgestel prison camp during the Second World War.

Politics

He was among others Minister of Justice, Governor of the Netherlands Antilles, Minister of the Interior and a member of the Dutch Council of State. He was also alderman of Breda from 1938 to 1941, and from 1944 to 1950. After the war he was briefly Minister of Justice, in which capacity he commuted the death sentences of "The Breda Four" (Franz Fischer (SS), Ferdinand aus der Fünten, Joseph Kotalla, and Willy Lages) to life imprisonment.

Governor of the Netherlands Antilles

While Governor of the Netherlands Antilles, Struycken came into conflict with the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands Antilles, who wanted to install S.W. van der Meer as Minister of Justice. Van der Meer, who had his own law practice in Curaçao, did not agree to give up his practice as a lawyer completely, prompting Struycken to refuse to install Van der Meer. The Dutch Antillean government complained to the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands about the governor's inappropriate involvement in government matters. The Netherlands government eventually agreed with the Antillean government. This affair resulted in a reorientation of the office of Governor of the Netherlands Antilles, which increasingly began to resemble the role of the constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.[1]

Decorations
Honours
Ribbon barHonourCountryDateComment
Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Netherlands 15 March 1951
Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau Netherlands 9 June 1959

Bibliography
  • Klinkers, Gert; Klinkers, Inge (2001). Het Koninkrijk in de Caraïben: een korte geschiedenis van het Nederlandse dekolonisatiebeleid 1940-2000. Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 9789053564660.

References
  1. Oostindie and Klinker 2001: 75

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