Willem Schermerhorn

Infobox Prime Minister
name =Willem Schermerhorn


order =Prime Minister of the Netherlands
term_start = 24 June 1945
term_end = 3 July 1946
deputy =
predecessor = Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy
successor = Louis Beel
birth_date = birth date|1894|12|17|df=y
birth_place = Akersloot, Holland
death_date = death date and age|1977|3|11|1894|12|17|df=y
death_place = Haarlem, Holland
spouse =
constituency =
party = Partij van de Arbeid
languagesspoken =

Willem Schermerhorn (17 December 1894 - 11 March 1977) was Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1945 until 1946. He was the first Prime Minister after World War II.

Schermerhorn was born in Akersloot in the Dutch province of Noord-Holland. He grew up in a protestant family of farmers.

He became professor at the Delft University of Technology on 7 September 1926. Schermerhorn remained professor until 1944, when he was removed by the German occupational forces because of his activities in the Dutch resistance.

He was interred by the German occupational forces as a hostage in Sint-Michielsgestel from May 1942 until December 1943.

After he was removed as professor in 1944 Schermerhorn went into hiding to avoid being taken prisoner by the German occupational forces.

On 24 June 1945 he became Prime Minister of the cabinet Schermerhorn/Drees, the first cabinet after World War II. Schermerhorn was the first Dutch Prime Minister who appointed civil servants with a political background, people like Koos Vorrink and Hendrik Brugmans (nicknamed 'The Schermerboys").

After the elections of 1946 he became a member of parliament, as a member of the social-democratic PvdA. He remained a member of parliament until 1951.

After his parliamentarian career ended he became director of the International Training Center for Aerial Survey in 1951 (until 1969).

Schermerhorn died on 11 March 1977 in Haarlem.