Pieter Kooijmans

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Pieter Kooijmans bigraphy, stories - Dutch politician

Pieter Kooijmans : biography

July 6, 1933 –

Pieter Hendrik "Peter" Kooijmans (6 July 1933 – 13 February 2013) was a Dutch jurist, politician and diplomat. He was a member of the Anti Revolutionary Party and later a member of its successor party the Christian Democratic Appeal. He was State Secretary and later Minister of Foreign Affairs (1973–1977 and 1993–1994). In between these periods of office he worked for the UN as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, (1985–1993). He served as a Judge on the International Court of Justice (1997–2006).

Orders and honorary titles

  • Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (1978)
  • Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau (1994)
  • Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (2006)
  • Minister of State (2007)
  • The Pieter Kooijmans Chair for Peace, Law and Security is a rotating academic chair created in 2009 at Leiden University,

Biography

Pieter Hendrik Kooijmans was born on 6 July 1933 in Heemstede, Netherlands. His father was an engineer and a member of the city council of Heemstede.

He had his secondary education in Haarlem, where he attended the gymnasium in humanities. He earned his doctorandus degrees in economics and law at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, in respectively 1955 and 1957, and obtained his doctorate in constitutional law at the same university in 1964. Following graduation, he joined the University’s faculty as Professor of Public International Law and European Law, serving from 1965 to 1973. He joined the Dutch Foreign Ministry, as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1973 to 1977. In 1976 and again in 1991, he served as a Lecturer at the Hague Academy of International Law. From 1978 to 1992, he served as a Professor of Public International Law at the University of Leiden. From 1993 to 1994, he served as Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, succeeding Hans van den Broek. In 1995, he returned to his former position as Professor of Public International Law at the University of Leiden, serving until his appointment to the International Court of Justice.

On 28 November 2006 Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands appointed Kooijmans as Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau.

On 13 July 2007 Kooijmans was appointed as Minister of State by the Cabinet of the Netherlands.

On 13 February 2013 Kooijmans died at the age of 79 of undisclosed causes.