Willem Schermerhorn

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Willem Schermerhorn December 17, 1894 - March 11 1977
Predecessor: Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy Prime Minister 1945-1946 Succeeded by Louis Beel
Prime Minister of the Netherlands

Willem Schermerhorn (December 17, 1894 - March 11, 1977) was Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1945 until 1946. He was the first Prime Minister after World War II.

Schermerhorn was born in Akersloot in the Dutch province of Noord-Holland. He grew up in a protestant family of farmers.

He became professor at the Delft University of Technology on September 7, 1926. Schermerhorn remained professor until 1944, when he was removed by the German occupational forces because of his activities in the Dutch resistance.

He was interred by the German occupational forces as a hostage in Sint-Michielsgestel from May 1942 until December 1943.

After he was removed as professor in 1944 Schermerhorn went into hiding to avoid being taken prisoner by the German occupational forces.

On June 24, 1945 he became Prime Minister of the cabinet Schermerhorn/Drees, the first cabinet after World War II. Schermerhorn was the first Dutch Prime Minister who appointed civil servants with a political background, people like Koos Vorrink and Hendrik Brugmans (nicknamed 'The Schermerboys").

After the elections of 1946 he became a member of parliament, as a member of the social-democratic PvdA. He remained a member of parliament until 1951.

After his parliamentarian career ended he became director of the International Training Center for Aerial Survey in 1951 (until 1969).

Schermerhorn died on March 11, 1977 in Haarlem.

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