Theodoor Herman de Meester

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Theodoor Herman de Meester

In office
17 August 1905 – 12 February 1908
Preceded by Abraham Kuyper
Succeeded by Theo Heemskerk

Born 16 December 1851(1851-12-16)
Harderwijk, Netherlands
Died 27 December 1919 (aged 68)
The Hague, Netherlands
Political party Liberale Unie

Theodoor Herman de Meester (Harderwijk, 16 December 1851 - The Hague, 27 December 1919) (union-liberal) was Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Finance Minister from 1905 to 1908.

De Meester was the son of Gerrit Abraham de Meester (1817-1864), who had been a member of the Dutch parliament for the Zwolle constituency from 1862 to 1864. A former administrator in the Dutch East Indies, De Meester's cabinet was inaugurated on August 17, 1905. It consisted of 5 liberal, 2 free-minded democratic, and 2 non-partisan ministers. It had no majority in either of the two Dutch chambers, and earned the nickname porcelain cabinet. His government first resigned in December 1906, when the defence budget for 1907 wasn't approved by the Dutch senate. That resignation was refused by Queen Wilhelmina, but the government fell in December 1907, when the Dutch parliament disapproved the defence budget for 1908. The government remained as a demissionair until February 12, 1908.

Languages