Marianne Thieme

Marianne Thieme
Parliamentary leader - Party for Animals House of Representatives of the Netherlands
Incumbent
Assumed office November 23, 2006
Preceded by	/
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office November 30, 2006
Personal details
Born	Marianne Louise Thieme March 6, 1972 (1972-03-06) (age 39) Ede, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Party for Animals (Partij voor de Dieren - PvdD)
Spouse(s)	Jaap Korteweg
Residence	Maarssen, Netherlands
Alma mater	Erasmus University Rotterdam (LLM in Administrative Law)
Occupation	Politician, animal rights activist and author
Religion	Seventh-day Adventist
Website	(English) Party for the Animals website

Marianne Louise Thieme (Dutch pronunciation: [mɐˈrijɑnə ˈtimə], born March 6, 1972 in Ede) is a Dutch politician of the Party for the Animals (Partij voor de Dieren). She has been Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives since November 23, 2006 and an MP since November 30, 2006.

A jurist by education and an animal rights activist and author by occupation.

Biography

Life before politics

Marianne Thieme studied at the Duno College in Doorwerth. After that she studied from 1991 to 1992 at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. From 1992 she studied law at Erasmus University Rotterdam with a specialization in administrative law. During this time she became a vegetarian. Her interest in animal rights motivated her to start studying law. Thieme graduated in 1997.

From 1998 to 2001 Marianne Thieme worked at research agengy B&A Group in The Hague. Between 2001 and 2004 she was policy official at Bont voor Dieren (Fur for Animals, a Dutch anti-fur animal welfare foundation). Until November 2006 she was the general manager of Stichting Wakker Dier (a Dutch animal welfare foundation against industrial agriculture).

Political life

In October 2002 she and other animal protectionists founded the Party for Animals (Partij voor de Dieren). During the Dutch general election of 2003 the party gained 50.000 votes (0.5%), but not a seat in the House of Representatives.

In February 2004 she was nominated to become the party's lijsttrekker (party leader) for the European Parliament election of 2004. This time the party gained 153.000 votes (3.2%), three times as much as in the 2002 Dutch general election. Still the number of votes was not enough to obtain a seat in the European Parliament.

During the Dutch general election of 2006 the Party for Animals gained 179,988 votes (1.8%), enough for two seats in the Dutch parliament. The party became the world's first party to gain parliamentary seats with an agenda focused primarily on animal rights.^[1]

Marianne Thieme always concludes her speeches in Parliament with the phrase "Voorts zijn wij van mening dat er een einde moet komen aan de bio-industrie." ("Furthermore we are of the opinion that factory farming has to be ended."), referencing Cato the Elder's famous conclusion of his speeches with Carthago delenda est.

Private life

She became a Seventh-day Adventist in 2006 "because [it is] a church with compassion and care for our planet."^[1] Marianne Thieme has a daughter (Annika, born 2002) and lives in Maarssen. On 6 November 2008 she married Organic farmer Jaap Korteweg from Langeweg, with whom she had a second daughter (Irma, born 2009).

Bibliography

• In May 2004 her book De eeuw van het dier (The century of the animal) was published. In this book animal rights are at the centre point. A line is drawn from the end of slavery through women's liberation to animal rights.

See also

• List of Dutch politicians

References

• (Dutch) Parlement.com biography

1. ^ ^{a b} Julius Nam (September 2007). "A Platform of Compassion". Spectrum. http://spectrummagazine.org/articles/spectrum_interview/2008/02/18/platform_compassion. Retrieved 2008-02-23. 

External links

• Meat the Truth (2007) documentary, DVD, book
• (Dutch) Marianne Thieme's weblog
• (Dutch) House of Representatives biography

Persondata
Name	Thieme, Marianne
Alternative names
Short description	Dutch animal rights activist and politician
Date of birth	March 6, 1972
Place of birth	Ede, Netherlands
Date of death
Place of death