Theo de Meester

Theo de Meester
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office August 17, 1905 – February 12, 1908
Monarch	Queen Wilhelmina
Preceded by	Abraham Kuyper
Succeeded by	Theo Heemskerk
Personal details
Born	Theodoor Herman de Meester 16 December 1851(1851-12-16) Harderwijk, Netherlands
Died	27 December 1919(1919-12-27) (aged 68) The Hague, Netherlands
Political party	Liberal Union
Occupation	Politician

Theodoor Herman "Theo" 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 17 August 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 12 February 1908.

Persondata
Name	Meester, Theo De
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 December 1851
Place of birth	Harderwijk, Netherlands
Date of death	27 December 1919
Place of death	The Hague, Netherlands