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Willem Albarda

Dutch politician (1877–1957)

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Willem Albarda
Willem Albarda in 1911
Member of the Council of State
In office 28 August 1945 – 1 July 1952
Vice President	Frans Beelaerts van Blokland
Minister of Finance
In office 17 November 1941 – 9 December 1942
Prime Minister	Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy
Preceded by	Max Steenberghe
Succeeded by	Johannes van den Broek
Minister of Water Management
In office 10 August 1939 – 23 February 1945
Prime Minister	Dirk Jan de Geer (1939–1940) Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy (1940–1945)
Preceded by	Otto van Lidth de Jeude
Succeeded by	Frans Wijffels (Ad interim)
Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives
In office 15 September 1925 – 10 August 1939
Preceded by	Jan Schaper
Succeeded by	Willem Drees
Leader of the Social Democratic Workers' Party
In office 12 July 1925 – 14 May 1940
Deputy	See list Jan Schaper (1925–1934) Jan van den Tempel (1934–1940) Willem Drees (1939–1940)
Preceded by	Pieter Jelles Troelstra
Succeeded by	Willem Drees
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 16 September 1913 – 10 August 1939
Personal details
Born	Johan Willem Albarda (1877-06-05)5 June 1877 Leeuwarden, Netherlands
Died	19 April 1957(1957-04-19) (aged 79) The Hague, Netherlands
Political party	Labour Party (from 1946)
Other political affiliations	Social Democratic Workers' Party (1899–1946)
Spouse(s)	Anna Brals ​ ​ (m. 1903; died 1929)​ Hiltje Ebkje Tibo ​ (m. 1931)​
Children	1 son and 1 daughter (first marriage)
Alma mater	Delft Polytechnic School (Bachelor of Engineering, Master of Engineering)
Occupation	Politician · civil servant · civil engineer · researcher · teacher · social worker · editor · author
Signature

Johan Willem Albarda (5 June 1877 – 19 April 1957) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA) and civil engineer.^[1]

Biography[edit]

Albarda worked as student researcher at the Delft Polytechnic School from May 1896 until July 1903 and also as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper Studenten-Weekblad from April 1898 until July 1903. Albarda worked as a math teacher from August 1903 until September 1911 in Almelo from August 1903 until February 1905 and in The Hague from February 1905 until November 1911 and as a civil servant for municipality of Amsterdam as director of the Social Service from November 1911 until September 1913. Albarda was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1913, taking office on 16 September 1913. After the Leader of the Social Democratic Workers' Party and parliamentary leader of the Social Democratic Workers' Party in the House of Representatives Pieter Jelles Troelstra announced his retirement from national politics and that he would not stand for the election of 1925 Albarda was selected as his successor as leader on 12 July 1925 and became parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives on 15 September 1925.

On 27 July 1939, the fifth Colijn cabinet was dismissed by Queen Wilhelmina and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the second De Geer cabinet with Albarda appointed as Minister of Water Management, taking office on 10 August 1939. On 10 May 1940, Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands and the government fled to London to escape the German occupation. On 14 May 1940 Albarda announced that he was stepping down as party leader in favor of parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives Willem Drees. The second De Geer cabinet fell on 26 August 1940 after a conflict between Queen Wilhelmina and Prime Minister Dirk Jan de Geer and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the first Gerbrandy cabinet with Albarda continuing as of Minister of Water Management, taking office on 3 September 1940. The first Gerbrandy cabinet fell on 12 June 1941 after a conflict between Queen Wilhelmina and Minister of Defence Adriaan Dijxhoorn and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the second Gerbrandy cabinet with Albarda continuing as of Minister of Water Management, taking office on 27 July 1941. Albarda was appointed as Minister of Finance following the resignation of Max Steenberghe and dual served in both positions, taking office on 17 November 1941. On 9 December 1942 Albarda resigned as Minister of Finance following the appointment of Johannes van den Broek but continued as Minister of Water Management. On 27 January 1945 Prime Minister Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy forced Minister of the Interior Jaap Burger to resign following an impromptu remark during a radio address where Burger differentiated between "wrongful" Dutch civilians (foute Nederlanders) and Dutch civilians who made a mistake (Nederlanders die een fout hebben gemaakt) but because Prime Minister Gerbrandy did not discuss this with rest of the cabinet, all the Social Democratic Workers' Party cabinet members announced their resignation and the cabinet continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the third Gerbrandy cabinet on 23 February 1945.

Following the end of World War II Albarda remained in active politics. In August 1945, he was nominated as a Member of the Council of State, serving from 28 August 1945 until 1 July 1952. The Albardastraat in The Hague is named after him.

Decorations[edit]

Honours
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion	Netherlands	31 Augustus 1945
	Commander of the Order of the Oak Crown	Luxembourg	12 April 1946
	Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown	Belgium	17 February 1947
	Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau	Netherlands	1 July 1952	Elevated from Officer (16 September 1923)

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Willem Albarda.

Official

• (in Dutch) Ir. J.W. (Willem) Albarda Parlement & Politiek