Marja van Bijsterveldt

Marja van Bijsterveldt
Minister of Education, Culture and Science
Incumbent
Assumed office October 14, 2010
Prime Minister	Mark Rutte
Preceded by	André Rouvoet
Member of the House of Representatives
In office June 17, 2010 – October 14, 2010
State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science
In office February 22, 2007 – October 14, 2010
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Bruno Bruins
Succeeded by	Halbe Zijlstra
Party Chair of the Christian Democratic Appeal
In office November 2, 2002 – February 22, 2007
Leader	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Marnix van Rij
Succeeded by	Peter van Heeswijk
Mayor of Schipluiden
In office September 16, 1994 – January 1, 2003
Preceded by	Jan Waaijer
Succeeded by	John de Prieëlle
Personal details
Born	Janneke Marlene Vliegenthart June 27, 1961 (1961-06-27) (age 50) Rotterdam, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal
Spouse(s)	Married
Residence	Schipluiden, Netherlands
Occupation	Politician Civil servant
Religion	Reformed Protestant
Website	Ministry of Education, Culture and Science

Janneke Marlene "Marja" van Bijsterveldt-Vliegenthart (born June 27, 1961) is a politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal. She is the Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Cabinet Rutte since October 14, 2010.

Biography

Early life

Janneke Marlene van Bijsterveldt-Vliegenthart was born on June 27, 1961 in Rotterdam. Van Bijsterveldt attended nursing school and worked in healthcare.

Politics

In 1990 she became politically active for the Christian Democratic Appeal. She was an alderwoman (member) of the Almere municipal council but left her post after the mayor of Almere's expenses were investigated. van Bijsterveldt disagreed with the way the other aldermen of the social-democratic PvdA and the liberal VVD had dealt with the matter, and following a motion of no-confidence in the VVD and the PvdA she resigned.

In 1994 she became mayor of Schipluiden and at the age of 33 years, she was the youngest mayor in Dutch history. She also was active within the CDA. first as chair of the CDJA, the CDA's youth organization and later as chair of the CDA-women's council. In November 2002 Van Bijsterveldt became party chair of the CDA. She was the first chair directly elected by the CDA membership. She beat the other candidate with 26.542 against 9.574 votes. She was re-elected for a period of four years in 2006. On 22 February 2007 Ms Van Bijsterveldt-Vliegenthart was appointed State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science in the fourth Fourth Balkenende cabinet. In August 2009 she spoke in the Dutch parliament about Laura Dekker, a thirteen year old Dutch citizen whose plans to circumnavigate the world solo caused international controversy. Marja van Bijsterveldt spoke against Dekker and agreed with the decision to make her a ward of court.^[1]

External links

• (Dutch) J.M. (Marja) van Bijsterveldt-Vliegenthart (Parlement & Politiek)

References

1. ^ (Dutch) Van Bijsterveldt ziet solozeiltocht 13-jarige niet zitten Inhetnieuws.nl

Party political offices
Preceded by Marnix van Rij	Party Chair Christian Democratic Appeal 2002-2007	Succeeded by Peter van Heeswijk
Government offices
Preceded by Bruno Bruins	State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science 2007-2010	Succeeded by Henk Kamp
Preceded by André Rouvoet	Minister of Education, Culture and Science 2010-	Succeeded by Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Jan Waaijer	Mayor of Schipluiden 1994-2003	Succeeded by John de Prieëlle

Persondata
Name	Bijsterveldt, Marja van
Alternative names
Short description	Dutch politician
Date of birth	June 27, 1961
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death